


Earth and Sky

by BadSleepingHabits



Series: Strik Skaifaya - Little Star [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergent, Character Death, Clarke and Costia are Healers, Clexa - Established Relationship, Costia & Clarke & Lexa Friendship, Costia/Luna Relationship, F/F, Flamekeeper Clarke, Flashbacks, Grounder Clarke Griffin, Jealous Lexa, Kidnapping, Mother Anya, Murphy Is A Good Guy, Nightmares, No Clarke Griffin/Others, No Lexa/Others, No city of light, Non-Explicit Sex, Panic Attacks, Some fluff too, Titus Is Not Always An Asshole, Torture, Violence, jake is alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2018-11-14 00:51:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 127,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11197005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadSleepingHabits/pseuds/BadSleepingHabits
Summary: Clarke and Lexa had finally what they wanted: peace among the clans and each other's love.Things were going well, until that damn metal box fell from the sky.Now, the Sky People are on the ground, and Clarke and Lexa will have to deal with them. They'll need to make a choice: protect their people and their traditions, or open their door to a new clan? Will they avoid a war, or will they start one?Sequel of Little Star, I suggest you read that first or this could be confusing.





	1. We're Back, Bitches!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, I'm back.  
> First chapter, a little introduction. I know it's short, but my dog went into surgery for the third time and I've been busy.  
> Like always, I hope you enjoy! :)

 

   "Your father's a dick, Wells!"

   Some of the others snickered. Wells couldn't really blame them, his father just said that all of them - including his own son - were expendable. That kinda meant he's an asshole.

   The dropship trembled violently and some girl screeched in fear. Wells gripped his seat harder and clenched his jaw. The trip wasn't exactly pleasant, he had to admit. At some point somebody cheered: "Spacewalker!" and "Go, Finn!" and Wells turned to see.

   A boy, with a wool hat on his head and a confident smile on his lips, was standing there - ok, more like _floating_ there, horizontally - with his arms crossed. Far away from his seat. The boy studied him for a moment, weighing him, while Wells just stared back at him thinking ' _you're an idiot go sit down_ ', but without actually saying it.

   "Check it out. Your dad floated me after all."

   Ok, ouch. "You should strap in before the parachutes open." he answered, maintaining the calm.

   Obviously, you find an idiot? Other two must follow. In fact, two boys started unbuckling their seat belts to go float like that jerk. "Hey, you two! Sit down and strap in, it's dangerous!" Wells yelled at them, but obviously they just ignored him and started floating, followed by cheers and whistles. The boy with the wool hat started talking to him again.

   "You're the son of the chancellor, what are you doing here?"

   "And you're the idiot who wasted three months of oxygen for a five minutes spacewalk." he said, deadpan, carefully avoiding the boy's question.

   He just smirked. "It was fun!"

   Wells arched an eyebrow at him. He heard his dad say: _"Mount Weather is life. You have to look for those supplies immediately."_ then something went wrong with the transmission and the screen went multicolor. No trace of his father. Wells was about to answer Finn when the parashutes shot open and the dropship jolted violently, sending the three floating boys against the hard metal.

   He told them so, as bad as it sounded.

   When finally the ship landed on the ground, someone checked on them. The two boys were dead, Finn was alive. Wells stretched out a hand to help the boy to his feet and, only a moment later, everyone was pushing everyone to get to the door first. He saw a tall guy, dressed like a guard, standing there and hugging tightly a small girl with long black hair. Then somebody said something about the girl - they were loud, Wells couldn't really make out everything they were saying - and she looked ready to kick some ass.Her brother stopped her grabbing her arm.

   "Octavia, Octavia no!"

   She turned to look at him, trying to wiggle out his hold.

   "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

   "Yeah, like what?"

   The guy - Bellamy - smiled slightly at his little sister. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

   That seemed to calm the girl down, enough that her brother let her go and turned to pull the lever. The door opened.

   A wave of fresh air, with the sweet smell of nature and earth invaded the dropship. Little noises caught their attention, the whisper of the wind, the chirping of the birds among the trees. Wells stood there, like the others, just watching Octavia walk towards the exit and stop at the edge. She jumped down and breathed deeply.

   Then she lifted her fists in the air and screamed: "WE'RE BACK, BITCHES!"

 

   _TonDC_

 

   "We should send the scouts." Clarke said, completely in her leading self. "Tell them to stay hidden, don't engage in any kind of contact unless is strictly necessary. They just have to watch, gain information."

   Everyone in the tent nodded.

   The moment that thing fell from the sky, they had called in a meeting. Now Clarke, Anya, Indra and Colan - the chief scout - were making plans in the general's tent.

   "What about the Mountain. Surely they have seen it too. What if they try to get there first?" Anya asked.

   Clarke thought about it for a moment, biting her lip. "What do you suggest?"

   Her mother pointed at the small river on the map with her finger. "We warn our guards at the boundary. Usually they only watch one side of the river, we tell them to make sure nobody cross it from either side." she said, her voice firm.

   Indra knitted her eyebrows, slightly confused and worried. "From either side? You think these sky people will try to get to the Mountain?"

   "Why not?" Anya answered. "For what we know, from what Clarke has been able to tell us, they are more similar to them. What if they try to get an alliance, their technology could wipe us out."

   "She's right." Clarke chimed in. "For what I remember, they use the technology for most things, they aren't warriors. They wouldn't try an alliance with us first, but with them. They're similar." The blonde tapped her fingers on the wooden table, her eyes fixated on the map. There were so many things to consider. She wished Lexa was there, the girl always made her focus better. "We don't know for sure that they'll try to reach the Mountain. And they don't have horses, they would walk. So we have time. We're not even sure there are people in that thing." Clarke looked at Colan. "Take your men, you have to gain as many information as you can. Warn our guards at the river, no one is to pass, both directions, understood?"

   The man nodded and exited the tent. Alone with the two generals, Clarke let out a deep sigh.

   "Are you ok?" Anya's voice brought her back to reality and she nodded.

   "Yeah. Just worried."

   The woman nodded. Indra huffed quietly. "We have to warn Heda." she said.

   Clarke hummed. "I think she knows. I mean, she would have seen it when that thing fell from the sky. But we should still send a messenger."

   Anya snickered. "You think she'll run here the moment the idea of you in danger crosses her mind?"

   That made the blonde chuckle, while Indra tried to hide her smile. _Always so tough._

   "She already has her problems in Polis, as well as responsibilities. She's needed there, I think we can manage the things here on our own for a while, can't we?"

   That made her mother scoff, almost offended. The woman crossed her arms on her chest with a scowl, standing taller. "Of course we can, we're warriors not a bunch of soft screaming girls."

 

   _The Ark_

 

   "Why can't we communicate with them, what's wrong?"

   Marcus' voice was worried but mostly annoyed. He really thought it was just a waste of time, those kids were bound to die on the ground. The radiations were going to kill them, he was sure of it.

   "We lost contact, sir. Everything we did to help them survive is gone. The wristbands are our only way to know that they're alive." Sinclair looked at him with a hopeless expression. "They're on their own."

   Abby had to find a chair to sit, her head suddenly light. They had sent those kids on earth to die.

 

***

 

   "Dr Griffin! Ma'am, we need a doctor, right now!"

   Abby shot up from her seat, looking at the alarmed man. Marcus turned to glare at him for disregarding the protocol, but she was faster and before he could reprimand the man she was in front of him. "Calm down. Tell me what happened."

   "The chancellor got shot."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   While the others were partying, Wells had found out a few things.

   First, the panels on the top of the ship were gone during the fall and a lot of the wires were fried, probably because of the heat when they were landing. They had lost contact with the Ark. Second, but not less important, they were on the _wrong fucking mountain._ His father had said that they needed to find Mount Weather and look for supplies. On that, Wells agreed. If they wanted to eat and drink, they needed to get to that bunker.There was one problem, though.

   Those assholes would never follow him, and he couldn't really carry food for a hundred persons. _He needed help._

   "Hey!" he said to the tall guy, Bellamy. "You heard my father, we need to reach Mount Weather." he started.

   A boy with an annoying smirk and light brown hair called Murphy stepped near him, wanting to argue. "I don't care what your father said, Prince Jaha. I'm not following his rules down here."

   Wells huffed, already tired of the discussion. "Well, if you want to eat, that's what we'll have to do. We're on the wrong mountain, the supplies are over there." he said, pointing with his finger to the other mountain. "We need to go. Now."

   Murphy smirked and shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere with you, _Chancellor of the Ground._ You want those supplies? Fine, go get them."

   "Wait, I can't bring supplies for everyone!"

   At that moment, Bellamy chimed in. "He's right. On the Ark you were one of the privileged, while our families had to work." he poked him on the chest with his finger, a smirk taking place on his face. "Now, _you_ go to work. If you find somebody that wants to help you, fine, otherwise you just start walking and bring us food."

   Luckily, that boy Finn proved to be not completely useless and decided to accompany him. He even found other two boys, Jasper and Monty. At the end, Octavia joined them too, not without some protests from the brother.

   Before they could walk away, though, Wells noticed the scratches on Finn's wristband. "You tried to take it off?!"

   "Yeah. Why, what's the problem."

   Wells rolled his eyes, not quite believing that a boy of his age could have such a narrow mind. "Well, if you take it off they'll think you're dead. Do you want you family and friends to think that?" The boy lowered his eyes, suddenly sad, the smirk long gone. Wells continued. "And more, if they think we're dead they won't come down here. They'll think the earth isn't survivable. But we need them, so try not to do anything stupid. Now let's go."

   Without wasting any more time they started walking towards the mountain, unaware of the eyes that were watching them from the trees.

   Without knowing that one of their own had just gotten an idea.

 

   _TonDC_

 

   The moment she found herself alone, Clarke decided to go for a walk to clear her head.

   It was almost evening and she had a killer headache. She had had to organize the scouts groups, think of a way to write the message for Lexa without sounding as worried as she really was, and keep everything in place while her mother shouted orders at almost everyone along with Indra. She just wanted some peace. She missed Polis. And she missed Lexa.

   Of course, the _moment_ she had started to relax a little a young boy, one of the scouts from Colan's group, jumped down from his horse and ran towards her. "Fleimkepa, I have news of the sky people." he said in a rush.

   Clarke had barely the time for a nod that Anya was already at her side, urging the boy to continue.

   "Our scouts report movement. They said these sky people are just teenagers and don't have weapons, but a small group of them has took off today after noon. They went into the forest."

   "What direction?" the blonde asked.

   The young scout fidgeted with his horse's reins. "The Mountain, Fleimkepa."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad? Good? Let me know in the comments.  
> Also, NOW is time to play. Ask for anything you want to see (or don't want to see).


	2. Spears At The Apogee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People talk, people walk, and things fly. I think the title says enough about that, doesn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to thank you for the comments and the kudos. That means a lot, so thank you.  
> Second of all, here for you chapter 2, a little early, actually.  
> Enjoy!

 

   "The Mountain, Fleimkepa.

   _Unbelievable._

   Clarke dismissed the boy and turned on her heels, Anya quickly followed her. "Clarke, what are you doing?"

   She could sense her mother's worry, and she understood it, too. Really. Now just wasn't the moment. They had things to do.

   The general grabbed her arm to stop her. "Clarke, please. What are you doing?" she asked again.

   The look in her eyes is what made Clarke lower her gaze and sigh deeply, preparing to explain herself. "I'm going there. At the river, I want to try and see if I recognize some of them, maybe I remember something useful."

   Her mother knitted her eyebrows, only slightly contrary. "Why would you want to do that?"

   The blonde huffed, crossing her arms on her chest, looking awfully similar to the woman in front of her. "I told you. I want to see if I remember something useful about them. And I also want to be sure they are actually trying to reach the Mountain and not just walking around before our scouts kill them."

   Anya stared at her for a minute, her expression frozen on her face. "You think they could just be, what? Exploring?" she finally asked.

   Clarke shrugged, hooking her thumbs in the back pockets of her pants. "I don't know, but it's a possibility. That scout said they're all teenagers. Maybe they don't even know about the Mountain Men." she looked away, letting her gaze travel on the horizon. "We must check before we do anything."

   After a moment of deep thinking, her mother nodded. Clarke sighed in relief and turned to go get her horse.

   "Wait, you're going now? It's almost sundown."

   The blonde threw her head back and groaned. Why did her mother have to be like that?

   "Clarke." She scolded her.

   "I've literally survived two wars and an abduction, and now you're worried about me going alone in the woods at night?"

   The general huffed, and being her stubborn self still wanted to argue. "It's not that, I know very well that you can defend yourself, I personally trained you. But you said it yourself, they don't have horses, they're slow. You can catch up on them tomorrow." Catching the look in her eyes right away, Clarke lowered her gaze, biting her lip. "I know you want to go, Clarke. But you're tired, you should rest first. You have time."

   The girl lifted her gaze to look at her mother. Noticing the loving look in her brown eyes and the hint of worry in her voice, she sighed, defeated. She put her hands on the crossed arms of the woman and squeezed gently. "You're right. I'm just worried, and I do stupid things when I'm worried. I'll bring Costia with me, if you don't need her here?"

   The woman smiled, satisfied. "You worry too much. Now go get some rest, Little Star. You need it."

   She gently pushed her towards her hut, making her chuckle.

 

   _In the forest_

 

   When finally the sun rised from its sleep, the five kids slowly woke up. The day before they had walked for hours in the woods before going to sleep at sundown. The earth was amazing, all the trees and sweet smelling air. The breeze that ruffled their hair, the colorful flowers scattered here and there among the bushes. At some point they had spotted a deer. It was beautiful and majestic, but when they had tried to get nearer, the animal had turned its head to reveal another one, smaller, growing adherent to the other. It had been kinda creepy.

   During the night, Finn had woken up and something had caught his attention. He had woken up Octavia too and showed her the blue glowing of the musk and mushrooms that climbed the threes. She was amazed by it, her smile bright and her eyes glowing almost as much as the musk.

   And now, those two were too tired to get up. Wells wanted to kill them.

   "We need to get going, guys." He said when the others seemed wake enough. Well, besides Finn and Octavia.

   "Why so much rush, Chancellor?"

   "Don't call me that."

   At his serious expression, Finn lifted his hands to show his surrender. "Ok, ok. Sorry."

   The group started walking again, their steps loud on the ground and the fallen twigs. After a while, Wells heard the others talking about the reasons they were in the Sky Box. He huffed, knowing too well that soon it would have been his turn. After Octavia had told her story - Wells was disgusted, how could they lock her up just because she was born? - it was.

   "So, Chan- Wells. What did you do to get down here with us poor criminals?" Finn asked, rather innocently.

   He didn't really see a point in lying, so he decided to just tell them. In the worst case they would have just thought he was an idiot. Without stopping to walk, Wells said: "I did it on purpose. I wasn't in lock up before, I got myself arrested a week ago just to come down here."

   The others gasped in shock. "You knew about this? And you came on purpose?" he just nodded. "Why?"

   The dark skinned boy sighed heavily. "The Ark is dying. Jakob Griffin found out months ago, the engineers tried to fix it but it was useless. That's why we're all here. They needed the oxygen, in a few months it will be finished."

   "So they just wanted us out of the way to get some more air for themselves?" Monty asked with a frown.

   "Yeah."

   "How did you found out? You father?" Finn said, looking serious for a change.

   Wells appreciated this side of him. "No, he didn't tell me anything. Abby Griffin did."

   "Doctor Griffin? Isn't she married with that engineer?"

   "Yes, actually. She told me everything so I could come down."

   "Why, she wanted to save you? Only you, and the others? Why didn't they tell everyone?" This time it was Octavia the one who talked, visibly angry. In her eyes it was just another betrayal of their people.

   Wells shook his head, trying to calm her down. "She wanted to save me but that's not the only reason. And Jakob got arrested because he tried to tell everyone. My father confined him in his cabin."

   The girl huffed, but her rage was clearly toned down now. Instead, Finn asked the one question Wells was really dreading. "You said that Dc Griffin had another reason to send you here, besides try to save you from the lack of oxygen."

   "Yeah." Wells took in a steeling breath. "Do you remember when that section fell, the one with the store? About ten years ago?" Everyone nodded seriously. "Well, there was a child in that store. She was the Griffins' daughter, Clarke. We were best friends when we were little." he explained.

   The other remained silent for a minute, then suddenly Jasper said, puzzled: "Wait, do you mean that, that woman sent you on a _radioactive planet_ on a _potentially suicidal mission_ , because she wanted you to find her _dead_ daughter?"

   "Well, obviously she doesn't think she's dead, or she wouldn't have sent him here." Octavia observed absently looking around.

   "Yeah, she thinks Clarke might have managed to survive somehow. She's holding onto hope, I can tell." Wells said.

   "So, you really think your friend's still alive somewhere?" Monty asked, his expression skeptical.

   "No. No, I don't think so, she was only eight when she fell, I don't think she could have survived on her own."

   "Then why did you accept?"

   "I told you, the Ark is dying. At least down here I have a chance to survive."

 

   _The Ark_

 

   They were going to float her. They were going to float her because she had used too many medical supplies on one man. She was just doing her job.

   She hugged her friend Cally, she told her not to lose hope. To look after the kids on the ground.

   She hugged her husband. Held tightly in his arms, she let a few tears escape from her eyes, and allowed herself to breathe for the first time in years. If Jake was right, she was going to meet her sweet, beautiful daughter again. She hugged him back, fiercely.

   "I love you, Abby." he whispered in her ear. "I love you."

   The woman smiled almost painfully. "I love you too. Please, Jake, if you find her- if I was right and you find her- please tell her..."

   The tall man shook his head, crying. "You'll tell her yourself."

   They stood like that for what felt like like hours, but in reality were just minutes. Abby discovered in that moment that she couldn't stop staring at the man's eyes. She loved those eyes so much her heart was aching, and she had denied herself the sight of them for years because she couldn't bare the memories they held.

   The memories of a young blonde girl, with those same eyes, running around that metal ship laughing and asking to go get art supplies. Wanting to become a doctor like her mother, playing of being an artist painting his father's face. She loved those eyes as much as she missed them.

   "Promise me." she pleaded.

   "I'll find her Abby. I will- I will tell her..." the man couldn't finish that sentence, but she knew it anyway.

   She went where they told her to go, her vision blurred because of the tears, and breathed deeply.

   They were going to float her because she had saved a man's life.

   Suddenly, a deep and authoritative voice boomed in the room. "Stop!"

   After that, the only thing she knew was that she was back in her love's arms, and her daughter was still lost. She didn't know if she was happy or not in that moment. But then, she felt anger towards herself. She couldn't lose hope this easily, she couldn't think about leaving her husband like that, not after everything that had happened.

   She wasn't going to go down without a fight.

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "You're not really a member of the guard are you?"

   "No. But the real guard will be here soon, unless we stop them."

   The two boys, Murphy and Mbege, just stared at him without saying a word. He took that as his cue to go on. "You don't actually think they're gonna forgive your crimes. _Ah_ , even if they did, then what? Guys like us, we're gonna become model citizens now? Get jobs? If we're lucky, then we'll pick up their _trash_."

   Mbege huffed, his patience already finished. "Have you got a point?"

   "No, I've got a question. They locked you up, dumped you down here like labor rats to die. So why are you helping them?"

   "The hell we are!"

   "Well, you're wearing those bracelets, aren't you? Right now those things are telling them whether is safe or not to follow us down here."

   Murphy nodded, his jaw clenched. "Ok, you said we can stop it. How?"

   Bellamy smirked. He had gotten what he wanted. "Take them off. The Ark will think you're dead, that is not safe to follow. You follow?"

   Murphy smirked slightly. "Right. And if we do," he exchanged a look with Mbege. "I mean, what's in it for us?"

   "Someone's gotta help me run things."

 

   _In the forest_

 

   "Hey! Who's up for a swim?"

   "What?!"

   A second later, Octavia was taking off her clothes with a mischievous grin. Wells heard Jasper say: "I love Earth." clearly enjoying the show, and in a moment the girl had jumped - not too graciously - in the lake.

   "Wait, Octavia we can't swim!"

   They stared horrified as the girl sank in the clear water, the liquid reaching her nose. Then, suddenly, the girl jumped up with a beaming smile and stood there with the water at her waist height.

   "No, but we can walk! Come on guys, it's beautiful!"

   The boys started getting off their own clothes to join her in the lake, but then suddenly Jasper started screaming. "OCTAVIA, GET OUT OF THE WATER, NOW! OCTAVIA! GET OUT OF THE WATER!"

   Everyone turned to see what had alarmed the boy, and they all gasped at the sight of a large snake swimming fastly towards Octavia.

 

   _In the woods_

 

   "But why do I have to come with you?"

   "Again, Costia?"

   The two girls were riding their horses in the quiet of the woods, the rhythmic sound of the hooves on the ground chanting the pace of their journey.

   "Yes, Clarke. Again." The blonde just groaned. "I mean, come on Clarke! You woke me at fucking dawn! And for what?, go with you at the river to watch the skaikru goufas! That's just mean."

   "Please, Costia." she looked at her friend with a grin. "We both know that you love riding in the woods."

   "Yeah, well," the brunette adjusted her position on the saddle, rubbing her eyes. "not at fucking dawn, I don't."

   Clarke snickered at the sight of her friend getting annoyed for the lack of sleep and earned herself a slap on the arm. "Ouch! Hey!"

   "Oh, shut it Clarke! You deserved it."

   They continued their ride in the woods in a comfortable silence. Clarke could see her friend's eyes dropping shut from time to time, but decided not to point it out. It was her fault, after all. When finally she heard the scrolling of the river, she pocked her friend on the shoulder.

   Costia jumped in fear, her brown eyes now wide open. "I'm here, I'm awake!"

   "Sure you are, girl. Sure." Clarke smirked.

   The brunette huffed. "Ugh, what do you want?"

   "We're here." she said, pointing at the river.

   "Finally. Let's find the guard, then."

   They found the guard pretty quickly, and the man told them which direction they expected the skaikru to come from. They thanked him - well, _Clarke_ thanked him, Costia was already back asleep - and they took off to that direction. They started following the river. If the sky people continued in their actual direction, they should have been able to intercept them.

   The two girls made their horses move and proceeded through the woods.

 

   _In the forest_

 

   "OCTAVIA GET OUT OF THE WATER!"

   Wells heard Jasper scream and snapped into action. They needed to help the girl, who was currently being dragged under the water by that big ass snake. He jumped from rock to rock, yelling at the others: "DROP ONE OF THOSE ROCKS INTO THE WATER! YOU NEED TO DISTRACT IT! I'LL GET HER OUT, MOVE!"

   Damn he was scared. He was going to jump in the lake fully knowing that the big ass snake was in the water. He had to be crazy. When he saw that thing leave Octavia to go catch the rock, the boy jumped in the water and grabbed the girl. She was screaming and kicking, but he managed to get a hold of her and started dragging her towards the ground.

   "WELLS, WELLS IT'S COMING BACK! HURRY UP!"

   Wells saw the long silhouette of the snake swimming in their direction and picked up the pace. They made it to the shore just in time, before the big ass snake could grab his leg. They fell on the hard ground - it had never been so wonderful - and were immediately surrounded by the others.

   "Shit, she's injured!"

   Everyone's attention focused on Octavia's leg, that was sporting a red bite mark, but she said it wasn't that bad so they just bandaged it and helped her to get on her feet. She tested the leg. It seemed good enough that she could use it, it was just painful. They agreed to avoid jumping into unknown waters from now on and resumed their walk, although they went slower this time so Octavia wouldn't have to struggle to keep up with them.

   They walked for what felt like - and actually _could have been_ \- hours, but at the end they arrived at a small river. Finn somehow found a liana that they could use to cross it and presented it to them with a smirk.

   "So, who wants to go first?"

 

   ///

 

   "Did you hear that?"

   "What?"

   "Shh, listen."

   Both girls made their horses stop and focused on the noises of the forest. The loud scrolling of the river made it a little difficult, but after a while they heard it again.

   "Is that cheering?"

   "It's not Trigedasleng. It's English."

   The two friends looked in each other's eyes. "Costia, I think we found them."

   "It wasn't that difficult, they're louder than a pauna."

   The two neared the river, staying hidden so that the sky people wouldn't see them. Clarke saw right away one of the guard settled on a tree, spear in the hand, ready to throw. She waved at him and he lowered his weapon.

   "Be ready to throw when I tell you, but don't do anything until I make the signal. Understood?"

   The man nodded and resumed his position, keeping an eye on Clarke to be ready to execute her order the moment she gave it. The archers imitated him, lowering their bows.

   "How long have they been there?" She asked to the one that had climbed down a tree.

   The woman thought about it for, like, two seconds before answering her. "Not for long, but I think they're trying to cross the river."

   Clarke nodded. "Thanks."

   She gave the reins of her horse to the woman and got nearer to the water, Costia hot on her heels. All the sleep had left her features and now she was damn curious. From where they stood, crouched, at the end of the tree line, they could see five persons, four guys and one girl. They all looked happy, cheering at one guy who was holding a liana in his hands. This boy was slim, but was another one that got her attention.

   "Hey, Costia."

   "Hmm?"

   "You see that guy, the one with the dark skin?" she pointed at him.

   Costia squinted her eyes to see him better. "Yeah, I see him?"

   "I think I remember him. I mean, he looks like an older version of someone I knew, I'm not sure it's really him." Clarke said, sounding all but convinced. And really, she wasn't. She remembered someone that looked like that guy, but that had been ten years before, she could have been wrong, or her memory could just have been playing her.

   "Really? Who does he look like?"

   "Well, I had a friend back in the sky. Actually, I think he was my best friend, there. His name was-"

   "HEY, WELLS! YOU LOOKING?" yelled the slim guy, holding the liana.

   "His name was Wells." she whispered, staring at the dark skinned boy. She felt Costia's hand on her right arm, and she turned to look at her, meeting her soft brown eyes.

   "Are you ok, Clarke?" she asked in a whisper.

   The blonde nodded. "I just never thought I would have seen any of them again."

   Right in that moment, the boy yelled something similar to 'apogee' and jumped on the other side of the river using said liana. Every guard on the trees stared at the blonde, waiting for her order. She signaled the archers to stay down and lifted her left hand so the man with the spear could see it. He readied his weapon.

   Clarke stood there, watching the guy.

   _Go back. Go back, idiot. Cross the damn river. Come on._

   The other four cheered like goufas, jumping around and screaming. The slim guy yelled again the damn 'apogee' and then suddenly looked down near his feet. He lifted a Mount Weather signal in the air.

   _Please, don't know what that is. Just say something stupid, but don't say that you want to get there. Please._

   The guy yelled at his friends. "WE DID IT! MOUNT WEATHER, GUYS! WE DID IT!"

   _Spirit, forgive me._

   She snapped her fingers to get the man's attention and lowered her arm, giving him the signal.

   The spear cut through the air like a knife and hit the boy in the chest, throwing him on the ground. The cheering stopped immediately and the sky people stood there shocked.

   " _Ja- Jasper?!_ "

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, I hope that was good and you liked it. Please let me know.  
> Next chapter we'll see a glimpse of what Lexa's dealing with in Polis and someone get tied up.  
> See you next time! :)


	3. Fair Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa attends a meeting with the ambassadors, Clarke and Costia go for a hike, and the sky people argue among themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back again.  
> Little note: like blonde_guitarist15 made me notice, how do you know when the characters speak trigedasleng or english?  
> Solution: Grounders always speak Trigedasleng among themselves. If they are together with the skaikru, trigedasleng will be in _italics _(sorry if this is not your word, but i'm italian and we call it 'corsivo', so.)  
>  Sorry for any mistakes, and enjoy!__

 

   "Heda, Clarke kom Trikru has sent you a message."

   Lexa took the letter from the man's hand and dismissed him. When the door closed she sat on her throne and teared the paper open. She frowned, not liking one bit what the letter said.

   Clarke wanted her to stay in Polis. She understood that, obviously, and she knew that she couldn't leave the capital just like that. She had duties, after all. At the same time, she had hoped that Clarke would have asked her to join her in TonDC. She missed her, sure, but now she was worried sick. The sky people had arrived and she didn't know their intentions. In the letter, Clarke had written that the skai goufas - who send untrained teenagers in an unknown territory? Seriously - had tried to reach the Mountain, and they had had to stop them. If they were lucky, those people would have been too scared to try again.

   Lexa sighed and folded the paper, sliding it in her pocket. A few seconds later Titus entered the room.

   "Heda. News from the Trikru?" he asked.

   The woman nodded. "Yes." she said. "The metal box carried teenagers, they tried to reach the Mountain."

   The man's eyes widened. "So, the sky people is here. What is your plan?"

   "I don't have a plan yet. Clarke and Anya are dealing with this, for now."

   "Heda," he started. "with all due respect, but I think you should talk about this with the ambassadors."

   Lexa sighed internally. That was going to be a long day.

 

***

 

   "So you don't plan on doing anything?"

   The commander exhaled from the nose to keep the calm. "There's nothing to do until they give us a real reason to make a move."

   "They're invaders. That's already a good reason." A choir of approving words raised from the twelve ambassadors.

   Lexa sighed heavily. She seemed to do that a lot lately. "Like I already said," they all stopped talking to listen to her. "I have been informed that the skaikru are children, disorganized and scared of their surroundings. They aren't a treath, not yet. Generals Anya and Indra are in charge of dealing with them for the time being."

   A soft murmur spreaded among them, just to be interrupted by a louder voice. "And what about the Fleimkepa, Clarke?" asked the Rock Line ambassador.

   Lexa took a while to answer that. She was confused, what about Clarke? "What do you mean with that?" she asked the woman.

   She waved her hands while talking. "Well, it is known that Clarke was born in the sky. Do you think it's wise to have her deal with the Skaikru?"

   At those words, the ambassador of the Boat Clan raised to his feet with an angry expression on his face. "Please, we all know that Clarke kom Trikru is loyal to her people! She proved it plenty of times!"

   "Yes, but what if she decides that the _Sky People_ is her people?"

   At that, a burning rage raised in her chest, but she didn't let it show. She should have known that that question would have arrived someday, but she still wasn't prepared for her own strong reaction to it. How dared they question Clarke's loyalty? She was Trikru, her life was with them, and she always took her responsibilities towards their people extremely seriously. Yet, they still didn't trust her.

   She noticed the worried glances of the ambassadors and willed herself to calm down. They had probably seen the anger in her eyes, and now they were fidgeting in their seats, clearly uncomfortable. "Clarke's loyalty is not a matter of discussion." she said in a definitive tone. "She was born Skaikru, but our laws are clear. She has been Trikru from the moment Anya adopted her."

   "Of course, Heda. I didn't want to insult anyone." the Rock Line ambassador lowered her head, while the Boat Clan ambassador sat back on his chair with a satisfied expression and smug smirk.

   Lexa clenched her fists on the armrests of her throne. "Then what did you want to do?" she asked, trying not to glare too much.

   "I was just trying to say, that maybe it could be... _difficult_ for her to maintain a clear mind in front of her former people. She could try to... avoid the conflict, even if it's necessary." the woman said, staring at her to try and gauge her reaction, visibly worried that she could kill her for being disrespectful.

   "I understand you concern, but I can assure you that this won't be a problem."

 

***

 

   "This could be a problem, Heda."

   Lexa slumped on her throne, exhausted and still a little angry. "You too, Titus?" she said, rubbing her tired eyes. "Look, I know that you don't like her, but she is loyal to us. To _me_. You know her, you should know it by now."

   The man sighed quietly, weighing his own words in his head before saying them. "Heda, my relationship with Clarke is clearly not the best one, but I have come to respect and sometimes even appreciate her. I'm not saying I like her, no. But I can see that she has a good influence on you."

   Lexa eyed him warily. "A good influence?"

   He nodded. "You're a lot calmer when she's around, and she really helps with your temper. The ambassadors can see it too, they're almost relaxed when she attends the meetings. Clarke keeps you focused."

   At the mention of the ambassadors, the hidden rage in her chest made its presence known again. "The ambassadors. Some of them still don't trust her, after all these years."

   "They do trust her, Heda."

   "Then why question her loyalty?"

   The man bit his cheek, thinking of the right words. "They don't question her loyalty, Heda. They question her ability to do what's necessary."

   Lexa passed a hand on her face, wishing with all her might that Clarke was there. Things were always easier when she was there. "I trust her with my life, Titus. This won't be a problem."

 

   _The river_

 

   "He was right there!" Finn whisper-shouted, with his eyes wide.

   They had run into the forest when the spear had hit the boy, but then a painful scream had made them stop. Jasper was alive.

   And he clearly couldn't go anywhere, he had spear in his chest. So, it was kinda creepy and very fucking scary that he wasn't where he was before.

   "They took him."

 

  ///

 

   "Clarke, this is the most stupid thing we've ever done."

   "Shut up, Costia."

   The two girls grabbed the unconscious boy and started dragging him through the woods. Their two horses weren't with them, they had given them to the scouts. Clarke had sent two of them to Polis with the message for Lexa the second the spear had hit its target. She envied them to no end.

   "I don't like it, Clarke."

   "I know. I don't like it either, but we have to do it." both of them grunted when they had to lift the boy out of the water of a small pool. "We're technically not at war with them yet, we can't just kill one of them like that, even if he's an idiot."

   Costia snorted lightly, holding the boy from the wrists. "So your great idea is to have them follow the boy's traces? They probably don't even know what a _footprint_ looks like."

   "Maybe, but if it works this will lead them away from the river, and from the Mountain." the blonde huffed. The boy was slim, but his clothes were some heavy shit, especially now that they were soaked.

   They let the boy fall on the ground and breathed deeply. Clarke wiped the sweat from her forehead and dried the back of her hand on her pants. _Why am I even doing this_ , she thought looking at her soaked leather pants, _I'm drying my hand on wet clothes_. She almost laughed at herself.

   "Maybe we could leave a clearer trail, with his clothes." she said to her friend. "They're just useless weight, anyway."

   The brunette lifted her hands as if to say: 'couldn't have thought about that sooner?' and started tugging at the boy's jacket. "Help me strip him, then. I'm not going to do all the work."

 

   _The Ark_

 

   "Twenty-three tiles are black. They're dying, Abby."

   "There has to be another explanation." Abby and Jackson were looking at the screens that would tell them how the kids were. She was relieved that Wells' wristband was still transmitting, but the black tiles were there like a memo. Twenty-three kids were probably dead.

   "Chancellor on deck."

   Everyone in the room turned to see Jaha walk through the doors and enter the command room. His eyes fell immediately on the black screens and his face fell a little. Kane jumped in and looked at the Chancellor. "I told you, it was a waste of time. Those wristbands we gave them are clearly telling us that the earth is not survivable. We sent those kids down there to die." Jaha exhaled a pained sigh, and slowly nodded.

   "No." Abby chimed in. "No, we don't know what they're telling us yet."

   "Abby." Kane watched her with cold eyes. "You can see them too. They're dying, that's what those things are telling us and you need to accept it."

   "No." she turned to look Jaha in his dark eyes. "Please, you have to trust me. There could be another explanation. For what we know the kids are fine."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   Wells and the others arrived at the camp only to find Murphy with a girl in his arms, and not in the romantic way. He was holding her down a few inches above a fire, making the girl scream in both fear and pain. When he saw that Bellamy was just fussing around Octavia with no intention of going to help, Wells ran towards them and pushed the boy away. He helped the girl up to her feet and faced Murphy again.

   He was wearing a lopsided smirk on his lips, and after only a few seconds, Murphy charged at him. Wells dodged his punches and at the first occasion he tried his luck, landing a hard punch in the boy's stomach.

   "Stop it now, Murphy!"

   The boy attacked him again, and Wells pushed him making him fall on the ground. "I told you to stop it! Now!"

   The only answer he received was a death glare from the boy, and Wells could only watch while he pulled a knife out his pocket. The boy smirked.

   "Hey! Bellamy you can stop it! Tell him to stop!" Wells yelled at the boy, who now was there watching them fight among all the others. He shook his head.

   "Bell. Tell him to stop, we have more important things to do right now." Octavia looked at him with pleading eyes, but he just ignored her.

   Instead, the boy took another knife and showed it to the crowd, then he threw it on the ground just near Wells' feet. "Fair fight."

 

  ///

 

   Lincoln watched as the two boys fought, comfortably sat on the branch of a tree.

   These skai goufas were loud, disorganized, stupid and did practically nothing all day. He didn't like them. This new boy, however, _Wells_ they called him, didn't seem to be that bad. He had immediately helped the girl and now was trying to stop a fight the other idiots had thrown him into. He had some honor.

   Lincoln watched as the tall guy with black hair threw the knife at Wells. He took it and fought with the other boy again. The man just sighed and added four little lines on the page of his diary.

   Ninety-nine.

 

  ///

 

   "This ends now! Is that clear!" Wells held the knife at the boy's throat, a clear threat to kill him if he didn't stop.

   He was actually pretty relieved when he felt Murphy nod in the headlock, and he let him go. He decided that he would have kept the knife, he had this feeling that he was going to need it, for self defense at least. When he put it in his jacket, the small cut on his arm tugged at his skin, making him grimace, but he hid it looking down at his pocket. When the knife was securely hidden in his clothes, Wells lifted his gaze and looked at Bellamy. "You are all idiots. You've been taking off your wristbands, am I right?"

   The boy just smirked, self-satisfied. "It's not your choice to make, Chancellor."

   "You're an idiot. The life support system on the Ark is flawed! Within four months they will all be dead! And by taking off those wristbands you're not only killing them, you are killing us!" he yelled at them. God, he was _so frustrated_ , everyone in that camp just wanted to have fun, none of them knew how badly in danger they were, and their families! And their friends! Bunch of idiots.

   "What are you talking about? And where is Jasper?" Bellamy asked, serious for a change.

   "They took him. The grounders." Octavia chimed in from where she was sitting on a log. "We had just reached a river, we were going to get to Mount Weather for those supplies. He was the first one to cross it."

   "They threw a spear in his chest."

 

  ///

 

   Lincoln observed attentively how the crowd slowly dispersed, leaving the small clearing completely bare.

   He watched how they helped the injured girl get into that metal building, and how the dark skinned boy, Wells, convinced the two troublemakers to follow him. Those two were up to no good, he could tell, but they were clearly the only two persons willing to go looking for their friend.

   After a while, a boy with a wool hat and shaggy hair ran into the forest to follow them. Better late than never.

   Lincoln sighed heavily, shaking his head. He added the last little line on his diary, the missing boy.

   One hundred.

 

   _The Ark_

 

   "Abby. Talk to me, please."

   The woman was safely wrapped up in her husband arms, crying quietly, without sobbing. But Jake could tell something was really wrong, as his wife wouldn't normally act like that, she was too proud. After a couple minutes, finally the doctor stopped crying and allowed the man to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

   They exchanged a small smile and then she sighed shakily. "Twenty-three wristbands stopped transmitting, and the number is increasing." Jake tightened his arms around her. "Kane wants to proceed with the population reduction plan."

   At that, the man gasped and his eyes widened. "How many?"

   "About two-hundred ten."

   He swallowed, closing his eyes. This was even worse than what he thought.

   "I tried to convince Thelonius that we can't be sure of the kids' situation, we don't have the means. If I am right, all those people would die for nothing, and I have no idea of how to stop them." she sniffed and rubbed the back of her hand against her nose, trying not to cry again.

   Jake started caressing her back with his hand in a soothing motion. "We'll figure it out. We will."

   Abby nodded against his chest, inhaling his scent. It somehow reminded her of Clarke.

   "Abby? I need to ask you something, but believe me I don't want to upset you." Jake said in a low voice.

   "Go ahead."

   He took a steeling breath. "I know you talked to Wells about two weeks before the launch, and three days later he got arrested. I was just wondering... if maybe you had told him what's happening. And maybe he tried his luck on the ground, or else..." he trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

   "I did talk to him. I told him everything."

   "When you say 'everything', do you mean you told him about Clarke too?"

   The woman slowly detached herself from him, never looking into his eyes. "I did." she whispered, her voice e broken.

   "Why?" Jake asked in a murmur.

   Abby bit her bottom lip, her eyebrows knitted and her eyes shut. "I asked him to find her."

   He should have seen that one coming. He knew that she really believed that Clarke was still alive, and he wanted to believe it too. But, what if he got his hopes up, and then she was dead? He couldn't even bare the thought.

   "I know you think I'm crazy, Jake. But I'm her mother, I can feel it. She's alive, down there. Somewhere, but I swear she's _alive_ , Jake." she said, pleading him with her watery eyes to believe her.

   Jake couldn't do anything beside nod, and hugged his wife with everything he had. Both started crying again, barely holding themselves together. The pain of their little one lost somewhere on earth was too much. They would have done anything to get her back even if only for a day. Maybe they could get their hopes up, if they had each other to pick up the pieces once those hopes crumbled down.

 

   _In the woods_

 

   "Help me dammit!"

   "I _am_ helping you!"

   "Like fuck, you are! You almost drowned me!"

   "Shut up, Clarke, or I will start to seriously consider it!"

   Glaring and bickering, they finally got out of the water with the red seaweed and started to prepare a cream for the boy's wound. It took them a while, and they were glad the skaion wasn't showing any intention of waking up. They applied the ointment on the wound and sighed tiredly.

   "Hey. I think this is far enough from the Mountain. We should drop him off somewhere near." Costia said.

   The blonde nodded, looking at their surroundings. An idea popped up in her mind and she pointed at a trail in the woods. "There's a place. We used it a couple of times to hunt. There's a tree, we can tie him up there. There are some traps too, but they're marked, the skaikru can't really be stupid enough to fall into them."

   Her friend nodded, getting up and running a hand through her hair. "Ok, let's do it."

 

***

 

   They had actually left a trail of the boy's clothes to help his friends to find him. The sooner the better, seeing that he wasn't really in good shape. The two climbed on the tree with the boy - really not an easy thing to do - and started tying him up.

   After a minute or so, Costia couldn't hold it back anymore, she knew something wasn't right with her friend so she had to ask. "Clarke? Hey, what's wrong?"

   The blonde didn't answer right away, she took her time, biting her bottom lip and tugging the ropes around the boy's body. At the end, she sighed heavily and met the brunette's eyes. "You know that boy, Wells?" She nodded. "Well, I didn't _really_ recognize him. I saw him, and it made me think about my old friend. Nothing more, just... that." she lowered her gaze and resumed tugging and knotting the ropes.

   "But that's ok, Clarke. It's normal, you two were friends a long time ago." Costia tried make her feel better, but she knew that there was something else. Clarke was upset and she was going to discover why. "Clarke?"

   The blonde huffed, knowing that she was going to spit it out sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner. "It's not just him. It's everything. I... everything is just so confused. I remember the things I did in the sky, but everything is like in a blur." Clarke had to take a deep, steeling breath before she could continue. "I don't remember my parents' faces." she murmured.

   Costia tried to meet her eyes, but the girl was keeping her head down to avoid eye-contact. "Clarke, that's... it was a long time ago." she whispered.

   "I know. It's just that, you know, seeing them here, on the ground, made me think."

   "About?"

   "About my parents. Sometimes I dream of them, of the things we used to do together, but I can't see their faces, nor hear their voices. They've faded from my memory. I'm not even sure I would recognize them if I should meet them!" the blonde let out a frustrated huff and tugged the rope to make the last knot.

   When she had finished with the rope, Costia placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "It's ok if it hurts, Clarke."

   "I know. I know, I'm just... worried. I think. But I can handle it."

   The other girl bit her lip, pensively. "Clarke, I hate to ask, but I feel like I need to. Please, don't kill me."

   That got a small laugh out of the blonde, who just said: "Go ahead."

   "Do you still consider them your people?"

   At that, Clarke knitted her brows, slightly offended. "What the fuck, Costia, no! They're not my people, why- why do you ask?"

   "Hey, hey ok! Chill!" the girl lifted her hands in a show of regret to get her to calm down. "I know, ok? It was just a question."

   The blonde deflated and lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry. But no, my people are the Trikru. There's no doubt about that. You know I would never betray our people, right?"

   "Of course. I trust you, I just had to ask. It would have been hard for you if you still saw them as your people."

   "I don't, believe me. I'm just sorry I can't remember my old parents. I know I was happy with them, and I'm sad that I can't remember their faces." they started climbing down the tree. "Besides, I have a mother here. And she's the best nomon I could have asked for."

   "I'm _so_ telling her that."

   "Spirit, help me.

 

   _In the forest_

 

   "Hey! I found another one!"

   The three boys followed Finn's voice and found him crouched near a small pond, a blue jacket in his hands. There was a big dark stain on it, and after a better look it was clear that it was blood. "It's Jasper's." Finn said.

   "Why did they leave a trail. I don't understand." Wells wondered.

   Beside him, Murphy scoffed. "A trail? What, you think whoever did that to Jasper wanted us to find him?"

   "Well, maybe they-"

   "Ok, enough." Bellamy interrupted him. "We don't have time for this. Jasper's already been lucky enough to survive a spear in his chest, but now we need to hurry. Come on."

   They continued to follow the traces that Finn found, hopefully going in the right direction. Meanwhile, Wells was a sweating mess, and not out of fear.

   He kept thinking about Clarke. In theory, earth should have been totally deserted. They knew about only one person that had fallen on the ground and now, out of the blue, there was someone on the planet. He couldn't stop wondering: What if the one that threw the spear was Clarke? It made sense. She had fallen on earth, they all had thought she died in the crash, but now there was someone alive there. Was it even possible? And if it was, why would Clarke attack them? They were her people, after all.

   "Hey! This way, I found him!"

 

  ///

 

   "Why are they so loud?!" Costia whispered.

   The two had found shelter on a tree, and now they were watching as the skai goufas marched towards the tied boy. "I have no idea, but if they keep all that noise up we'll have a problem."

   The zone they were in was the hunting territory of the jaguars. They would usually hunt the deers or the boars, but those guys were so loud, they were going to attract the attention of one of them.

   Clarke saw Costia facepalm when the boy with shaggy hair fell into one of the traps. Clarke only snickered. The boy was really stupid, didn't he see the skull mark? They had heard Wells shout: "Finn, watch out!" and a second later the other guy had grabbed the idiot's arm, saving his life.

   After that, the same Finn guy climbed - rather clumsily - on the tree with a lean boy with light brown hair, while Wells and the other tall guy remained down, guarding the zone. They had barely touched the ropes that held the wounded boy against the tree when a low growl scared them.

   " _Fuck!_ " the girls whisper-shouted at the same time.

   The black jaguar ran towards the boys and they saw the big one bringing a hand to the back of his pants. "Bellamy, gun!" the dark skinned one yelled. At the last moment, the other boy extracted the gun and fired, killing the jaguar with a loud bang.

   "Well," Costia said. "and here I thought they were loud before."

 

   _On the Ark_

 

   "What the hell were you doing in there?!" Abby asked to the girl in front of her.

   She and Jackson were re-examining the data from the wristbands, trying to find another explanation for the black tiles, when they had heard a noise. Turned out, the noise was Raven, the young mechanic that wanted to know about the Sky Box quarantine.

   "I'm calling security." Jackson said, but the girl's voice stopped him.

   "Wait! I know the cause of the black tiles!" she blurted out.

   "What?"

   Raven nodded towards the screens. "Those are the prisoners you sent on the ground?"

   "Yes." Abby nodded. "Their wristbands are telling us more than twenty-five of them are dead."

   The girl shook her head. "They're not dying, they're taking them off."

   "Why would they do that?"

   Raven smirked, crossing her arms on her chest. "Because you told them not to."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, impressions?  
> Feel free to yell at me for anything.  
> Next chapter: acid fog, a lot of talking and Charlotte makes her appearence. How will that go?  
> See you next time! ;)


	4. Screw You, I'm Not Afraid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The acid fog makes its presence known, a lot of talking, planning and... Charlotte goes talk to Wells, who shares something about his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone.  
> Another chapter so soon? Yes. Should you get used to it? I don't think so.  
> Again, thank you all for the kudos and the comments, you're all great!  
> Sorry for any mistakes.  
> Now, enjoy!

 

   "They're not dying, they're taking off their wristbands. By choice."

   The counselors and Jaha stared at her for a moment, almost like they were expecting her to say she was just joking. When she remained serious, they started fidgeting in their seats.

   Kane was the first one to talk. "And why should they do something like that?"

   "Because we told them not to do it."

   The man snorted, shaking his head. "It doesn't even make sense, Abby. Those wristbands are the only way we have to know if they're alive. They would know that if we think they're dying, we'll not follow them on the ground." he stared at everyone at the round table. "Why would they want to remain on earth by themselves?"

   "That's not the point." Abby said, her voice sure. "The point is, we don't know if they're really dying. We sent them on earth to see if it's survivable, we have to _at least_ give them a chance!"

   The others looked in each other's eyes, weighing her words. When they voted, three were in favor of the population reduction plan and three were against it. The last word was due to the chancellor.

   "You have ten days to find proof that the kids are alive, Abby."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   Wells and Finn walked inside the camp with Jasper still unconscious, and went to get him into the dropship to let him rest. Behind them, Bellamy and Murphy laid the dead jaguar on the ground, among a chorus of cheers and whistles.

   While the others started to prepare dinner, Wells and Finn laid the wounded boy down on a pile of clothes and updated Monty about his conditions. The boy was clearly worried, Jasper was his best friend after all.

   "What have you been up to, while we were out?" Wells asked, trying to distract him from the feverish body of his friend.

   "Oh, I tried to use the wristbands to contact the Ark. Octavia gave me hers, but it died the moment she took it off. We're still alone." Monty said, her eyes sad.

   "We'll find a way. Just, keep trying, ok?" Wells told him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

   He just nodded, never averting his gaze from the boy on the floor.

 

   _The Ark_

 

   "Abby, I technically can't be here."

   "I know. But I looked up your file. You’re the youngest zero-g mechanic on the Ark in 50 years."

   "Fifty-two," the girl specified. "but so what?"

   The woman guided her deeper in the maze of doors and hallways and stopped in a small room. In the middle of it, there was a sheet, covering up a huge object. Raven just crossed her arms and waited. Abby gave her a weird look and pulled at the sheet, revealing the hidden object. The young girl gaped at the thing.

   "Abby, what do you-"

   The woman interrupted her. "Within ten days, the Council will approve of a plan to reduce the population of three-hundred and twenty people to save oxygen for the rest of us. We can stop it," she said, lifting a hand to tell the girl to stay silent. She obeyed. "we can stop it, if we find a proof that the kids on earth are still alive. For that, I need to get down there."

   Raven nodded, a little shocked but overall pretty calm. "Ok, I can do it."

   "You have nine days."

   The mechanic grimaced. "It's not really a lot of time, but I'm the best. I can do it."

   "Good. How many people can this thing carry?" Abby asked suddenly.

   "Hem, well two. Three, maybe, if you're not claustrophobic." Raven answered, examining the old pod. "Why, you planning on bringing company?"

   "Yes, I'll try to sneak my husband in."

   "Well, I can fix it, but on one condition." Raven waited until she was sure she had all the woman's attention. "I'm coming with you. You're not the only one that has someone you love on earth."

 

   _TonDC_

 

   "Clarke, did you send the messengers to Polis?"

   "Yes, Indra. Could you please find my nomon, there are things we need to discuss." the woman nodded and took off. Clarke pressed a hand on her eyes, sighing tiredly.

   "I'm going to clean up a bit, Clarke. See you later." Costia said, with a smile.

   "Yeah, ok. See you later, Costia."

   After the brunette had left, Clarke groaned and started walking towards the tent she shared with her mother. She wanted to take a long ass bath, too, but she knew the two generals would be at her door far too soon to even fill the tub. She entered her tent with a sigh and slumped on a chair, stretching her legs. Spirit, how she missed the soft couch in her and Lexa's room. And their carpets. And _Lexa_.

   A dumb smile took place on her lips and she almost fell asleep on that chair, her mind filled with happy green eyes and soft couches and furry carpets. Almost.

   Because a second later the two generals barged in - well, _Anya_ barged in, Indra was merely following her - making her jump and almost fall from the chair.

   "Shit, nomon, couldn't you just knock like every normal person?" she asked with a sleepy groan, readjusting her position on the chair.

   "What, this is my hut too." Anya answered with a smug grin.

   The two women took their seat at the small table. Clarke rubbed the sleep off her eyes and sighed.

   "Let me guess," Indra said. "we won't like whatever you have to say."

   "You're right as usual." the blonde answered. "We found them, today. At the river."

   Anya noticed the look in her eyes and asked: "What are they like?"

   Clarke just shook her head with a hopeless expression. "They're mostly around my age, but they behave like children. They're loud, and clumsy. And," she pinched the base of her nose. "they tried to cross the boundary."

   "So they knew about the mountain?" Anya asked in a worried tone.

   "Yes. And before you ask, yes I'm sure. One of them yelled 'we did it' holding one of the mountain signals." she explained, scratching her forehead. "One of the scouts hit him with his spear, though. I think we scared them enough that they won't try again."

   Indra nodded, her expression pensive. "So, the scout killed him?"

   Clarke shook her head. "No, the spear hit him right under his heart. We made sure they could find him and we tended to the wound. Oh and, now that I think about it," the blonde took the bottle of water on the table and poured herself a glass. She drank it in one sip and put it down. "at least one of them has a gun. Like the ones of the mountain men."

   Indra knitted her eyebrows but remained quiet, while Anya cursed under her breath.

   "Lincoln has returned too." Indra said, suddenly. "He watched them today along with other scouts. He counted a hundred of them, and said one of them got injured while she was away from their camp. Two have disappeared, a boy and a girl. And one of them punished a boy for disobeying him, so he is probably the one in charge." she concluded with a serious face, sliding on the table a drawing Lincoln had made.

   "That's the one with the gun." Clarke said, recognizing the face in the drawing.

   "There is more." Indra added. "The other scouts confirmed that two boys got into a fight because one of them was hurting a girl, holding her above a fire. The point is, after seeing that, one of the boys yelled at the others that 'if they took their wristbands off, their people wouldn't follow them'."

   "So that's their plan?" Anya said, clearly annoyed. "Send some teenagers ahead to see if it's safe, and then follow? Brave, really." she scoffed. "And if they take their bracelets off, then they won't come at all? That's just strange."

   "I agree that something is weird in this story." Clarke said, calming her mother down enough to have her attention back. "But, as ironic as it may be, we don't know enough about them. For what we know, they could have organized all of this." she tapped her fingers on the wooden table, thinking. "We need to keep watching them, and to discover why they're here, and what they want."

   "That's a good plan. Besides, we need to wait for Heda's orders before we do anything else." Anya added.

   "I'll warn Colan, then. I'll tell him to have his scouts patrolling the woods around the skaikru camp." Indra said, then she got up and hurried out of the tent.

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "If he doesn't stop moaning, I swear I'll kill him!"

   "Make him shut the fuck up! I wanna sleep!"

   Wells sighed heavily and rested his head on his hands. He could hear the delinquents complaining outside the Dropship, growing angrier by the minute. Bellamy, Atom and a bunch of others had gone out hunting, leaving Murphy in charge, which had concluded with him trying to break in the room to kill the injured boy. They had to close the hatch to keep him out, otherwise Jasper would have been dead by now.

   "Hey."

   Wells lifted his head and saw Finn approaching him. He waved at the boy, and waited until he was sat next to him. Finn nodded toward the herbal cream in the boy's hands. "Do you know what kind of vegetable that stuff is made of?"

   Wells huffed quietly and nodded. "Yup. It's seaweed. See? No roots."

   The boy studied the item for a moment before nodding, his expression serious. "Do you think you could recognize, or find it?"

   "Uh, yeah it's not too complicated. Low water... it would probably be red."

   "I know the place. Let's go." Finn went to get up, but Wells' voice stopped him.

   "Wait. Even if we found it, we'd still have a problem." he said.

   "What problem?"

   Wells lifted his eyes to meet the boy's ones. "I don't know how to make a medical cream out of seaweed. And you?"

 

   _The Ark_

 

   "Abby, this is crazy."

   "I know, but it's the only way."

   "Abby I can't even get out of our room. There's no way in hell that I can sneak in an off limits level and launch a pod directed to the earth." The man stared at his wife with wide eyes, not quite believing all the things she was telling him.

   The woman sighed, her eyes closed. "Jake, we need to get to the ground. If we don't do it, three-hundred twenty people will die and we'll be just as guilty as the one that will give the order to kill them. Please, you have to understand." she begged, looking at him in the eyes, not caring if it was painful to do it.

   Jake sighed, pinching the base of his nose between his fingers. "Abby, I get it, I do. And I'm not gonna stop you, but I can't go with you. They would know we're up to something and wold stop us. If I stay here, you'll have more chances to do it without problems."

   Abby shook her head, stubbornly refusing to accept such a thing. "No. I'm not going without you, we need you."

   The man ran a hand through his hair, looking down at his feet. "Abby. They would know right away that I'm gone. And, even if I agreed, what do you plan to do? Knock the guard down and run?"

   "If it's necessary."

   "Listen, you go ok? You and Raven can make it, but I will not be a part of the plan."

 

   _In the forest_

 

   "So, this is the place."

   Wells and Finn had finally reached the pond of water with the seaweed. The water, indeed, appeared red because of the plant. Thinking about it, everything made sense. They had found Jasper's shirt near that pool of water, sign that probably whoever had made that cream for the boy had took the seaweed from that same pond. Wells kneeled on the ground near the water and grabbed his backpack.

   "Ok, I think we could use a piece of cloth and a seatbelt to make some kind of net, or something, so we can pull it out of the water." he suggested. No way he was going to walk in the water, he rembered way to well the big ass snake that almost ate his and Octavia's legs.

   "Yeah, ok." Finn nodded and kneeled next to him to help him.

   After a few seconds, though, they heard a horn resound in the air, followed by a sound similar to a thunder. When they turned to look at the sky, their eyes widened in shock and fear at the sight of the yellow fog rapidly creeping towards them.

   "Oh, shit! I don't like it!"

   On that, Wells totally agreed. The dark skinned boy swiftly walked into the water - skrew the snake, that fog was scarier - and grabbed a handful of the red seaweed, put it into his backpack and ran back to Finn.

   "Shit, it's coming towards us! Run!"

 

***

 

   At the end, they had found shelter into an old car abandoned in the woods. Finn found a bottle of alcohol and took a sip, making a face when the liquid burned in his throat. After a second he offered the bottle to Wells.

   He just shook his head. "Alcohol is toxic."

   "We're on earth. Everything's toxic."

 

   _In the cave_

 

   Bellamy was trying to sleep, his head rested on his forearm. He stared in front of himself, in the dark, where he knew the little girl was resting. He couldn't help wondering. That child was so little, so scared. Could she find it in herself to survive?

   He didn't want her to die. She reminded him of Octavia, of the time when she was little. All he wanted was to protect her on the Ark, and now on the ground. With Charlotte, he felt something similar. Not that strongly, of course, but still.

   When she had woken up from her nightmare, she had that look in her eyes. The look a person has when something haunts them. He knew that look. He had tried to help her how he could. The same way he used to help Octavia back on the Ark. He told her to slay her demons, so that she could sleep. He had even given her a little knife, to help her feel more secure.

 

   _"Hold it tight, shut your eyes, and say: Screw you, I'm not afraid."_

_"Screw you, I'm not afraid."_

_"More certain. You have to believe it."_

_"Screw you, I'm not afraid!"_

_"Yeah, like that. Slay your demons, kid. Then, you'll be able to sleep."_

 

   God, in that moment she looked exactly like Octavia. Flashes of memories, of his sister, of his mother, started racing in his mind. He let those memories lull him back into sleep, a small smile appearing on his lips.

   He dreamt of a different ending for their story, one in which Aurora never died, and he and his sister could go to that masquerade party together, just to see Octavia smile looking at the earth, no guard looking for her, no fear of being locked up. Just them, the sight of the earth in front of their eyes, and the beautiful sound of their mother's laughter.

   A solitary tear slipped out of his eye while he was asleep, slowly rolling down his cheek.

 

   _TonDC_

 

   "Spirit, I hate that fog. It's creepy."

   That made her mother laugh, her eyes narrowed in the best of the ways.

   Just a few minutes after Indra had gone out to find Colan, they had heard the sound of the foghorn and had closed the entrance of the tent. Usually the fog wouldn't reach TonDC, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious. Now, the two were trying to ignore the distant thunders and not to worry about their friends out there. They knew that everyone was prepared and aware of the risks, but not worrying about the people they cared about wasn't that easy.

   "Really, Clarke? _Creepy_ , is that the best you can do?"

   "What? It's true." the blonde put away the bottle of water and the glass and went to sit back in front of Anya. "It's so... _yellow_."

   She relished in the woman's laughter, a sweet smile making it's way on her own lips at the sound. A comfortable silence followed, neither of them feeling the need to break it.

   "You look tired." Anya said after a while, looking at her daughter. The girl's eyes were drooping, and she was clearly fighting the need to sleep.

   "I am." Clarke sighed out, rubbing her tired eyes. "I... saw something at the river. Well, someone actually."

   The woman in front of her sat straighter, her gaze focused on the blonde. "One of the skaikru?"

   She nodded. "Remember what I told you about that friend of mine? Wells?"

   Her mother nodded, remembering quite clearly when her little girl told her about her best friend on that ship in the sky. She hadn't talked about him in years, by now.

   "He's one of them."

   "Are you sure?"

   "Another boy called him by name."

   Again, silence enveloped them. The distant thunders were slowly losing their strength, and the wind's howl had subsided a bit.

   "Do you want to talk about it?"

 

***

 

   Half an hour later, the blonde had bathed - she couldn't really wait any longer, and Anya had agreed- and the two were now cuddled up in her mother's bed. Feeling safe and sound in the woman's arms, Clarke told her: "Seeing him made me think about my parents on the Ark."

   At her words, Anya's back stiffened a bit, before she could will it back to a relaxed state. Of course she knew that Clarke hadn't forgotten her parents up in the sky, but she didn't like the thought of the girl calling 'mom' another woman. "Do you miss them?" she asked.

   The blonde scooted even nearer, hiding her face in the crook of her mother's neck. "In a way, yes." she mumbled. "I mean, I remember how happy I was with them, and I kinda miss it, but I don't really remember them." the girl sighed, relaxing slightly at the sensation of Anya's hand rubbing her back in a soothing motion. "I don't even think I would recognize them, now."

   Anya heard the sadness in her voice and thought about a way to make her feel better. "Hey, don't blame yourself, it's been almost ten years."

   "I know."

   "And it's not like you have completely forgotten them. They would understand." she held her daughter tightly against her chest, trying to comfort her.

   "You think so?" Clarke mumbled, her eyelids drooping from tiredness.

   "Hm-mm." the woman left a feather-like kiss on her blonde hair. "Now sleep, Little Star."

   It took her less than a minute to fall heavily asleep, the distant sounds of the thunders gently lulling her into sleep.

 

   _In the car_

 

   "Come on, how longer do we have to wait?"

   Finn scoffed. "If you want to go running in the acid fog, be my guest."

   Wells rolled his eyes, annoyed at the boy's lame sarcasm. "I just hope it goes away soon, Jasper can't wait much longer."

   They fell into an awkward silence, Finn kept sipping the whiskey from time to time. Meanwhile, Wells' brain was exploding.

   The Earth was supposed to be deserted. Ok. The Earth _wasn't_ deserted, - someone did throw a spear to Jasper -. Not so ok. But, he could live with that.

   Seriously, that was an enormous planet, he wasn't all that surprised that people still lived there. Even after a nuclear apocalypse. If animals like snakes, deers and boars could, then why not persons? The thing that was really making his brain explode, was _Clarke Griffin_.

   "What?"

   He snapped his head up, meeting Finn's eyes, that were staring at him. Apparently, he had said something out loud. "Oh, hum, nothing."

   "You said something about Clarke Griffin."

   He sighed. "Yeah, I was thinking about her. I mean, her mother thinks she's still alive and I always thought it wasn't possible, but now we kinda know that there is someone here."

   "So?" Finn asked, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.

   Wells shrugged. "So, I was wondering if she could be alive, after all."

   "Well, even if she was, why should it concern us?" The boy said, sipping from the bottle in his hand.

   The dark skinned boy sent him a glare. "Her mother sent me here to find her. And, either way, she's one of us. Of course it concerns us."

   After that, the boys went silent again. Only this time, Wells wasn't wondering of Clarke Griffin was still alive.

   He was wondering, if Clarke Griffin was still alive, and it was her that had thrown the spear that had nearly killed Jasper, was she really still one of them?

   He took the bottle of whiskey from Finn's hands and took a sip.

 

   _In the forest_

 

   Casian stood there, on the tree, waiting for the skaikru to exit the cave. Now that the fog had cleared, the scouts were back to their posts, surveying the sky people. When they came out of their shelter, they found the boy. He was exposed to the fog, and Casian knew that he would die. He would have killed him himself to spare him the pain, but he had orders not to kill any of them if not strictly necessary. Plus, he didn't know if these skaikru had some death ritual and he didn't want to anger his deity by disregarding it. He wouldn't have wanted that for himself, so he wasn't gonna do it to that sky boy.

   The leader sent everyone away when he found his friend. Other two boys arrived, and they stood there staring at the wounded boy without moving. The guy with shaggy hair took off, followed by a little girl with dirty blonde hair. Casian saw the one with curly black hair hesitate, looking at the boy on the ground with sad eyes.

   The young scout readied his bow. If that boys didn't kill the poor guy soon, he would do it, ritual or no ritual. Nobody deserved to suffer the fog-death.

    After a couple seconds, he saw the dark skinned boy extract a small knife, and kneel on the ground near the wounded boy's head. The other one imitated him.

 

  ///

 

   Both boys took a steeling breath. Bellamy put a reassuring hand on Atom's chest, while Wells put his on the boy's forehead. They exchanged a rapid look and their hands joined around the hilt of the knife.

   "On three." Wells whispered, so that Atom couldn't hear. Bellamy nodded.

   "One."

   Wells closed his eyes and tightened his hold on the knife.

   "Two."

   Bellamy swallowed painfully, staring at Atom's pained expression and clouded eyes.

   "Please... please..." the boy whispered, his voice hoarse.

   "Three."

 

  ///

 

   He saw the two boys gently put the knife at the injured one throat and then push it in. The boy gasped quietly and after a second his head turned to the side and his chest stopped moving. Casian lowered his bow, a heavy sense of sadness weighing in his chest.

   Death was sad to everyone.

   He sighed heavily and moved to the next tree.

   Nobody noticed the little girl still hiding behind the tree, her eyes dark and sad. Wounded.

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   After sending someone to dig Atom's grave, Wells and Finn went to see Jasper. He was luckily still alive, thanks to Octavia that had kept everyone away from him. The two boys started arguing about the seaweed, trying to come out with a good solution. They didn't know how to make a cream, and they couldn't make him eat it, for he would surely choke since he was still unconscious.

   After a while, a very annoyed Octavia chimed in. "Why don't you just make a tea?"

   They turned to look at her weirdly. She shrugged. "Seriously, it's not that hard."

   When the two boys didn't do anything, still rooted on the spot staring at her, she rolled her eyes and snatched the seaweed from Wells' hands. Muttering something suspiciously similar to 'useless boys' she climbed down the ladder and disappeared from their sight. The two guys stayed there, dumbfounded.

   "Did she just-?"

   "Yep."

   "Let's not talk about it again, ok?"

   "Yep."

 

***

 

   The tea actually worked, and after a few hours Jasper woke up, mumbling about booze. Relieved for the boy's recovery, Wells left the others with him and went to do the first watch.

   The evening air was fresh and a little crisp, and the crickets were singing stubbornly among the trees. A sudden movement got his attention and he turned to face the source of it.

   "Oh, hey Charlotte."

   The girl sat next to him, a pensive expression on her face. "I had another nightmare." she murmured.

   "Hmm." he observed her attentively and, seeing the haunted look in her eyes, he asked: "Do you want to talk about it?"

   The girl remained silent for a while, then she brought her knees to her chest and hugged them with her thin arms. "It's about my parents. They've been floated." she said with a small voice.

   "Ah. I'm sorry." Charlotte just nodded. Wells tried to cheer her up a bit. "Wanna know a secret to help with the bad dreams?" he asked, earning himself another little nod. "You have to face the cause of them. Your fears, the things that torment you."

   "I've been told... that I have to slay my demons." she said quietly, her eyes filled with tears.

   Wells put an arm around the child's shoulders and held her against his side, reassuring her. "Slaying your demons won't make them go away. You have to face them, become stronger than them, and they won't be able to hurt you anymore."

   The girl looked down, biting her bottom lip. "How can you know if it works?"

   The boy sighed, sadly. "My mom. She's been floated too."

   Charlotte looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

   Wells nodded, his eyes watering. "Yes. She was against the council's methods. She started meddling with their things, I don't know the details."

   The little girl sniffled and then asked, in a small voice: "And your dad floated her?"

   He shook his head a little, even if she couldn't see him, curled up against his side. "Not him, Diana Sidney. But, he didn't do everything he could have to stop her. He was in the council, he could have done something. But he chose his people and his law, rather than his family. That's always the first choice, for him."

   The child nodded, sniffling again. "And, it made you have nightmares?"

   "Yes, of course. I was about your age when it happened. But I faced it, and with time I came to accept that I couldn't change some things. After a while, I started to feel better."

   The two fell into silence once again, quietly listening to the sound of the crickets and breathing in the sweet smell of the trees and the cooked meat, reaching them from the camp.

   Charlotte sniffled again, curling up nearer to the boy's side. "You're very different from you father."

   Wells couldn't help but smile, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "Yeah, I've always been a mommy's kid."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I really wanted to kill Jasper, but then I realized I needed his stupidity in later chapters, so for now he'll live. *sigh*
> 
> Don't worry about Clarke, she's confused but she's a grounder. Her heart is on the ground. (Polis, specifically) ;)
> 
> Anyway, was it good? I hope so.  
> Feel free to yell and scream and everything you want!
> 
> Next Time: Glimpse of Lexa in Polis, what she's dealing with. Then, someone jumps in space. Guess who?


	5. The Less You Know, The Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa's moments of "peace" in Polis and a pod is launched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back again. Thank you all for the kudos and comments, that means a lot to me.
> 
> For those who have not read Little Star: in this story, Lexa has already killed Nia and Ontari is now integrated in _her _group of nightbloods. So basically, Ontari's not a bitch here.__
> 
> __Not much of Clarke in this chapter, sorry. But at least we see Lexa ;)_ _
> 
> __Hope you all enjoy!_ _

 

   "So, they didn't know about the fog. You're sure of this."

   "Yes, they've already had three victims because of it."

   Anya nodded at Lincoln and turned toward Clarke, that was sat at the table talking quietly with Indra. "Hey, Clarke." the blonde lifted her eyes. "It seems that you were right, they didn't know about the fog, nor its limited range."

   With time, they had learned that the yellow fog only reached the same places, as if there was something holding it back. They suspected it was the mountain, the fog would always cover the territory around it, but they didn't know if the two things were actually connected. Clarke started grinning smugly, lifting her hands as if to say: 'told you', and Indra hummed quietly.

   "This explains why they haven't moved their camp, yet." the dark skinned woman said. "If they think that it's just a casual event, then it wouldn't make sense for them to move."

   "And they don't have other weapons of the kind used by the mountain men." Lincoln chimed in. "But they're learning. Other scouts and I, saw various groups of them going hunting with axes and spears. But they're primitive and rough, and they don't really know how to use them."

   "Of course not." Clarke said without getting up, drawing everyone's attention to herself. "On the Ark, there aren't things like spears, and only the guards can have weapons, _I think._ They're young, so I don't think they have ever been allowed anywhere near a weapon."

   "The scouts say they are learning though." said Anya, turning to face Lincoln. The man just nodded, so the general asked: "Is their leader teaching them?"

   Lincoln nodded again. "He's the oldest of them, but I don't think he's the only leader."

   "What do you mean?" Clarke asked, suddenly even more curious. The scout just shrugged. "It seems that there are two groups, one following him, and the other following a boy with dark skin. This one got into a fight because of the other, so I think they are somehow against each other."

   Clarke pressed her hands on her eyes, sighing quietly. "This explains why they are so disorganized." She dismissed Lincoln with a wave and a smile, and watched as the boy left the tent. The girl started tapping her fingers on the wooden table, thinking about what was the best thing to do now. "Has Lexa sent a message, yet?" she asked suddenly.

   "Why, you miss her?" joked Anya with a smirk, only getting an eye roll and a tongue stuck-out from her daughter, that had the general chuckling like a baby.

   Indra sighed deeply, barely tolerating their childish behavior. "No messenger has arrived yet."

   Clarke nodded, going back to her serious self, biting her bottom lip pensively. "So, the no-killing order still stands."

   Indra nodded seriously, while Anya huffed, her hands on her hips. "Let's just hope that things are still good in Polis."

 

   _Polis_

 

   "Please, Titus. Just, pair her up with Aden."

   "I always pair her up with him. But it's part of the training that they switch partners, and she has to accept it."

   "Listen, both she and Aden are going to become seconds within months, anyway. Their mentors will train them the way they'll want, so just pair them up together and let's forget about it."

   Lexa slumped on her throne with a heavy sigh, resting her head against the backrest. How she wished that Clarke could be there right now. She was the only one who _really_ knew what to say when it came to Ontari. Sure, the girl listened to Lexa and mostly did as she said, but when she was being difficult it was Clarke that could get her to calm down. In more than a way, Lexa could understand it. It was the same for her, after all.

   "I'll talk to her, later. Ok?" she said, and waited for Titus to nod before finally dismissing him. Now alone in the throne room, Lexa ran a hand on her face, huffing.

   _What do I tell her now?_

 

***

 

   The perfect occasion presented to her at lunch time, when she walked in front of a room and spotted the girl eating her meal while talking quietly with one of the servants. The commander entered the room silently, going to sit near the nightblood without a word. After a few seconds - that the servant used to vanish behind a door, leaving them some privacy - finally the girl spoke.

   "Did Titus send you?"

   Lexa had to hold back a scoff. "I'm the commander, nobody can send me anywhere."

   That brought a little smile on Ontari's lips. "But Clarke does."

   At that, Lexa couldn't help but smile too. "Yeah, well, but she's Clarke. She can."

   The girl snorted and kept eating her food, a neutral expression on her face. When she was finished, she pushed away the plate and folded her hands on the table, fidgeting with her fingers. "Is he still complaining because I didn't want to spar with the others again?" she asked.

   Lexa sighed, lazily twirling a glass of water with her right hand. "Oh, you know Titus. He complains about everything."

   "So, you're not her to scold me."

   "No. I've done worse when I was your age. I believe Titus is still mad at me for a few things I did back then." the woman said with a nostalgic grin.

   She still remembered how angry the bald man was, that time when Clarke had visited with Anya, and the two girls had ended up sneaking out in the middle of the night leaving no traces. The guards couldn't find them, and that had almost thrown the tower into a panic when the day after, they were still gone. Turned out, the girls had gone to the hill where they had shared their first kiss, spent hours stargazing and had fallen asleep a bit after sunrise. One of the best nights of her life.

   "I have a question, though." Lexa told to the girl, turning a bit so she could face her. "Why won't you spar with the others? Has something happened?"

   Ontari took a deep sigh, gathering her thoughts. She bit her bottom lip, anxiously fidgeting with her fingers, until she decided to take a steeling breath and say: "I hurt them." Lexa watches her swallow painfully, and waited for her to explain. "Sometimes, when we spar, I get carried away. It's just, I got used to it when I was with Nia, and I'm better now, really. She wanted me to _want_ to kill my adversaries, and I haven't killed anyone in a long time, so." she fixated her eyes on the table. "But, well, it happens to me at times that when I spar with the others, I go too hard and I hurt them. With Aden it doesn't happen because he's as good as me, but all the others are younger, and smaller than me. And we all agreed that it would have been better if I just paired up with him, so it's not that big of a deal. Titus is exaggerating, that's all."

   They stayed silent for a minute, Ontari fidgeting in her seat while Lexa sat completely still. "I think I know someone who can help you learning how to control yourself in a fight, but I'll have to ask them first. For now just spar with Aden, if he's ok with it, and I'll tell Titus to let you be for a while, deal?" Lexa said, having had an idea.

   The girl nodded with a grateful expression. "Ok, thanks." When the woman got up and went to reach the door, Ontari's voice stopped her in her track. "When will Clarke be back, by the way?" she asked.

   Lexa turned to face her. "I don't know, she's dealing with those affairs in TonDC."

   The girl smiled, a teasing glint in her eyes. "I hope she comes back soon, she's way better than you with all this talking stuff."

   The other girl snorted with a grin, turning to leave the room. "Oh, believe me, I know."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "Hey, Monty."

   The boy lifted his eyes from the complex thing he was working on and smiled at Wells. "Hey."

   The dark-skinned boy sat near his friend, staring at the device he was fixing. Wells pointed at it and asked: "How's it going?"

   "Everything's good so far." the asian boy said. "I think I can make it work for tonight, but I'll need one of the wristbands for it."

   "Oh." Wells kept staring at the device for a few moments, thinking. It was true that they needed to contact the Ark, but if he did it, they would have thought that he was dead. He wasn't exactly anxious to make his own father suffer for something like that. But then again, his father hadn't thought twice to press the button that had sent him on a radioactive planet. With his mind made up, the boy squeezed Monty's shoulder with a hand. "Take mine, then."

 

   _The Ark_

 

   No.

   Abby stared at the black tile and the only thing she could think about was that Wells was the only one on earth who knew about Clarke. If he was dead, then... But, no. Maybe he had just took off his wristband, like the others. It was more than possible. Yes, it had to be so. Fine.

   Abby willed herself to calm down and exited the room. She had to talk to Raven, they needed to hurry.

 

***

 

   " _Wells Jaha is dead?_ "

   "Maybe, I don't know. He could have took his wristband off."

   "Right, ok." Raven nodded and went back to her work.

   Abby breathed deeply, trying to keep her nerves at bay. "Raven, we need to hurry. Wells is the only one I told about Clarke, besides you. I need to know if he's still alive, if he has found her-"

   "Hey, hey Abby!" the girl jumped out of the pod and took the doctor's hands in hers to make them stop trembling. "I'm almost done, alright? But I need a pressure regulator, or we won't be going anywhere anytime soon, ok?"

   The woman nodded, taking various deep breaths to calm down. "Ok, then. Where can we get one?"

   The girl smirked. "The less you know, the better."

 

   _Polis_

 

   The candles enlightened the commander's chambers with a peaceful light, orange-ish and relaxing. Lexa was lying on her soft couch, writing the letter for Luna.

   Her conversation with Ontari had opened her eyes, that day. She knew that the girl wasn't bad, she had just had a horrible role model during her childhood. And now, she had issues controlling her rage. Lexa understood her fear of herself, the girl didn't want to hurt her young friends but sometimes, it was easier said than done. Luckily, Lexa happened to know the perfect role model for the girl. Luna was by far the most pacific person she had ever met. She was surely a great warrior, skilled and concentrated, but the woman had never found joy in a fight, and would always try to avoid them. Basically, the perfect teacher for a young, impulsive and easily-angered future warrior.

   Reaching the end of the message, Lexa hoped that her old friend would accept the task, for she knew that Ontari really needed a peaceful presence in her life. After folding accurately the paper, the commander took another sheet and started writing the next letter. This one was for Clarke.

   She kept it on topic, even if she just wanted to beg the girl to come back to Polis. Or to let her go to TonDC. Of course, being the commander she could do as she pleased, but Clarke had said she had it under control and Lexa respected her enough to believe her. If and when she was needed in TonDC, she would have gone. Of course, that didn't mean she was happy with the distance between them. She missed the girl every day a bit more, and she was starting to feel restless. She was worried, and she wasn't sleeping well, her nightmares becoming every night more insistent.

   With a sigh, Lexa wrote a note at the end of the message telling Clarke about Ontari's situation and her idea to make Luna her mentor, and folded it. After that, the girl rubbed her eyes and went on the balcony, looking at the stars. It was curious how they looked so much brighter when she would look at them with Clarke by her side.

   Her gaze shifted in direction of TonDC and she sighed again, allowing a smile to graze her lips. At the thought of Clarke, the stars seemed to regain some of their light, at the end.

 

   _The Ark_

 

   She had fucked up, this time.

   She didn't have the damn pressure regulator, and they couldn't launch the pod without it. Nygel, that bitch. She should have never contacted her again. Now she knew she needed a regulator and God knows who she will tell now. The moment Abby let her in, in the medical bay, the girl told her everything. Oddly enough, instead of panicking like Raven expected her to do, the woman had this weird look in her eyes. A look she couldn't quite put the finger on.

   "Wait, what do you mean? How are you going to convince her?" she asked, worried.

   They were breaking a shit ton rules right now, they could have gotten floated in the blink of an eye. "The less you know, the better."

 

  ///

 

   Jake was studying quietly the last reports about the oxygen flaw, sitting at his desk and chewing the pen. A bad habit, he knew it, but he had every right to be stressed rigth now, so. It all happened really fast. A moment before everything was quiet, a moment later a thud outside the door, and then his wife was telling him to help her drag the guard inside the room.

   They closed the door and he started waving his hands, whisper-shouting: "Abby, for the love of God! Why did you do it!"

   "Listen we don't have time, ok? Raven's installing the pressure regulator in the pod, we need to go."

   "I told you that-"

   "No, Jake!" she interrupted him, a determined look in her eyes. "I will not go to earth without you. Is that clear?"

   The man sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. Well, the guard was knocked out now, anyway, so.

 

***

 

   In the launch room, Jake was helping Raven installing the pressure regulator, both agreeing that two pair of hands would have been better than one.

   "Abby told me about Clarke." Raven said in a soft voice, after a few minutes of work. The two exchanged a look, and she added: "I'm sorry."

   The man nodded, a grateful smile stretching his lips. "Thank you, for your help. Maybe we'll see her again thanks to you."

   The girl was about to answer when Abby's voice stole their attention. "Jackson called. Nygel turned me in, Kane will be here in five minutes."

   "Wha... Nygel?" Jake asked, dumbfounded.

   "Yeah, we don't have time for it. Raven, how much longer do you need?"

   The girl took a couple seconds to answer, but then she shook her head slightly and said: "At least twenty minutes."

   "Too much." Jake muttered, getting out the pod. "We need to buy some time."

   "No, where are you going?" Abby stopped him with a hand on his chest. "You go, find Clarke. I'll buy some time."

   "No, Abby." the man covered her hand with his own and gently squeezed it. "You weren't going to leave without me, and I'm not going to do it, either. What kind of man would I be, if I leave my wife here to get floated while I go to the ground?"

   "But, guys..." they both turned to face Raven, that was looking at them with sad eyes. "they'll float you."

   Jake put a reassuring hand on the girl shoulder, meeting her eyes with his own. "Don't worry about us. You go to the ground, find the kids and tell us via radio. Ok? We'll buy you the time you need."

   The girl nodded quietly, hugged Abby with all her strength, and looked as the two reached the door

 

  ///

 

   "May I ask you what were you doing in an off limits level?" Kane asked. He was fuming, he couldn't believe that Abby had really sneaked Jake out of their cabin to _go for a walk_. That's what he has said, anyway. "Your sick mechanic. It's Raven Reyes, isn't it?" he asked, directly to Abby, this time. "You understand that this could get her floated, right? Why would you do it?!"

   "I did it because the kids are alive, Marcus! She'll get the proof of that." the woman said with confidence, only making him arch his eyebrow.

   "Really. Then tell me, what do you needed the pressure regulator for?"

   "For nothing, Marcus." Jake chimed in. "I told you, we were just messing around. It gets boring, you know, to stay all the time in a cabin."

   "Nice try, Jake." Kane said. Then he waved at the guards, telling them to arrest them. And they were doing just that, when a loud noise reached them from a distant room. "What was that? What happened?" Kane asked. Then, he turned to face the couple. "What did you do?"

   "Sir." a guard said, suddenly, bringing a hand to his ear, looking at them with wide eyes. "A pod launched."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "I did it."

   Everyone in the room turned toward Monty, that was looking with an almost surprised expression at the device in front of him. He lifted his eyes and smiled. "We just need to hook it up to the Dropship, and we can talk to the Ark."

   "Wow. You're a genius, Monty." Wells said, smiling like a fool.

   "I know. Here," he took a wire and showed it to them. "we have to connect this."

   "Jasper." Wells called, dragging the boy nearer to the thing. "C'mon. You do it."

   Jasper took the wire with trembling hands, staring at the device as if it was the scariest thing in the world. The boy neared the wire to the open wristband, resting on the table, and connected it. A second later, it emitted a furious, electric hiss and Finn, Monty and Jasper let out a pained: " _Ouch!_ " A few seconds later, they saw the wristband's little blue lights flicker and turn off.

   "What happened? Did it work?" Wells asked.

   He saw the asian boy slowly shook his head, his eyes down. "No. And, I think, we actually fried all the wristbands." Their eyes met and Monty sighed, defeated. "We're on our own."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad?? Good?? Let me know.
> 
> Also. since I'm italian, I actually don't know many english words about technology stuff, so for any mistakes, I'm sorry.
> 
> First: I could be talked into adding chapters to Black Lines, as a series of one shots, if you're interested, like that time when the disappeared to go stargazing. Let me know if you want to see it.
> 
> Second: did you really thought I was letting Jake go to the ground and fix everything with his awesomeness? Please, tooo eeaasyy. ;p
> 
> Now a question, I know I'm boring: it's about the tags. Here Clarke and Lexa are in an established relationship, but as you see they don't meet for a few chapters. I was wondering how should I put this in the tags?
> 
> Next Chapter: Anya finds out she's Clarke's number 1, as you wished.


	6. Freaking Shooting Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I'm back.  
> This is some sort of "in between" chapter in my head, so read it with that in mind.  
> Enjoy!

 

   "So, are we finally getting floated?" Jake asked, seeing Jaha walk in the cell he shared with Abby.

   The man shook his head, a serious expression on his face. Jaha closed the door behind himself and folded his hands, staring at them. "Abby, Jake, the Council has granted you work-release pending preview. We need every engineer available to gain some time and medical is overwhelmed, dizziness, fatigue, vision problems." he said, his face stoic.

   The woman nodded. "It's pulmonary toxicity."

   "But my projections said that we wouldn't be critical for another three months." Jake said, his eyebrows knitted.

   "Your projections were wrong." A heavy silence fell on them, none of them knowing how to break it. At the end, Jaha did, saying: "The Council approved Kane's population reduction plan three hours ago. The vote was unanimous." the man paused for a moment, allowing the new to sink in. "We start in twelve hours."

   "How many?" Jake asked, his gaze fixated on his feet, unable to look that man in the eyes.

   "Three-hundred twenty people will be excised from the grid."

   "No, _murdered_ , Thelonius." Jake snapped. "Those people will be murdered."

   "We need to wait for Raven to report back." Abby chimed in.

   "Abby look at those numbers!" Jaha said, his eyes wide. "Every hour that passes, we put more people in danger."

   Jake shook his head, an incredulous expression on his face, while Abby was indignant. "She risked her _life_ for those people!" the woman said.

   "No, _you_ risked her life." the man spitted out, clenching his jaw. "When you let her believe that loving a boy somehow meant trusting her life in a hundred years-old metal coffin."

   At those words, the woman's face fell, her eyes lowering to the ground. Jake put a hand on her back to provide his wife some comfort, shooting daggers at his old friend through his clear blue eyes. But the dark skinned man was unrelenting, and he continued: "And now that trust is going to kill her. Another child dead, just like all the others." he paused, getting his breathing under control. " _Just like our own._ "

 

   _In the pod_

   "Ok... RCS valve... open."

   "RCS trust pressure... good."

   "Ahh, Attitude... good."

   "Heat Shield... good. Ok."

   "Don't blow up."

 

   _TonDC_

 

   "Hey, Costia."

   The young brunette turned to face the general, smiling warmly when she recognized her. "Oh, hey Anya."

   "Need help?" the woman pointed at the heavy-looking bags full of medical supplies stuffed in the back of a wooden cart. The girl's face splitted in a grateful smile and nodded. She wasn't the type to refuse the help of a muscled pair of arms. Anya took one end of the first bag and waited for her to take the other, then they lifted it with a grunt. Fuck, those supplies were heavy. "Where should we put this?" the woman asked.

   "The medical tent, that way." Costia said, nodding towards the hut. The two reached the tent and laid the bag on the ground, careful not to break anything precious. On their way back towards the cart, Costia saw the furrow on the general's forehead, and asked softly: "Everything ok?"

   Anya's head snapped up and her brown eyes fixated on Costia's. The woman stayed silent for a moment, then sighed and shifted her gaze. "Yeah, I mean... nothing serious. It's probably just in my head, anyway."

   They reached the cart and the brunette rested a hand on the wooden surface, stopping to look at the woman. "Look, I really don't want to pry in your things, so you don't have to say anything. But, maybe I can help."

   Anya sighed again and leaned her side against the cart, crossing her arms on her chest. She let her eyes wander along the landscape, focusing a moment longer on the sun, almost vanished behind the trees. She bit her lip and said, quietly: "So, you and Clarke are pretty close, right?"

   The girl nodded. "Yes, we've been friends since she came down from the sky."

   "Yeah, so..." Anya lowered her eyes, uncrossing her arms to start fidgeting with her hands. "I was wondering if she had said anything to you about her parents in the sky."

   Costia knitted her eyebrows, slightly taken aback by that question. "I mean, yes, she said something. But, like, she only said that she couldn't remember them very well and that she was sad because of it." she observed the general to gauge her reaction, and when the woman didn't show any signs that she was going to answer, she added: "Why do you ask?"

   "Nothing, really. It's all in my head, she was a bit down when you two returned from the river." she rubbed her eye with a hand. "She said she kinda miss the things she did with her parents, nothing else. It's just, you know, it's a bit difficult to accept that she called other persons her parents, once, and that it can still affect her like that. But, at the same time, it's right. They raised her for eight years, I wouldn't want her to forget them, anyway."

   At that, Costia knew exactly what that woman needed to feel better. She got nearer to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. When Anya met her eyes, the girl said: "You know what else Clarke said, the other day? After we talked about her old parents?" Anya stared at her for a moment, as if she was actually deciding whether she wanted to know it or not. At the end, the general nodded, never averting her gaze. Costia's smile widened, and she said: "She told me that here on earth, she has the best nomon she could have ever asked for."

   The girl waited for her words to sink in the woman's brain, and she chuckled as she saw the realization fill the general's eyes. After a few more seconds, Anya started swelling with pride, puffing out her chest and straightening her back, standing taller. A satisfied smirk took place on her lips, and she sniffled, her hands on her hips. "She said that?" the woman asked, her eyes soft and slightly watering.

   "Yeah." Costia giggled, the sight of the thouger, more badass general in the village so proud and giddy, made it hard for her to stifle her laugh. "She said exactly that."

   "Oh." the smirk widened on Anya's lips, softening her features. Her eyes were twinkling when she subtly wiped a tear away, and the furrow on her forehead was nowhere to be seen. "No need to worry, then." she shifted her eyes on the bags still laying on the back of the cart. "Let's bring these things to the tent, then, shall we?"

 

***

 

   By the time they finished moving those bags, the sun had set and TonDC was silent and calm. There were only a few noises that could still be heard, like the grilling of the crickets, the quiet fussing of the howls, or the happy chirping of the few birds still awake. Anya was sat on a big log near the edge of the village, quietly sipping from a cup of cider. Her little chat with Costia had erased all her worries about Clarke's old parents, and now everything she could feel was happiness and pride. Her daughter considered her the best mother. That amazing woman she had managed to raise saw her like that, like the best mother. She couldn't stop repeating those words in her head. Best mother.

   _Ha! Take that, Abby of the Sky People!_

   She took another sip and breathed deeply, savoring the fresh air of the early night. She was _the best!_ she thought with a giggle.

   Suddenly, a warm presence next to her distracted her from her self-satisfying thoughts, and the general turned slightly to see who she was sharing the log with. "Hey, Costia."

   "Anya." the girl greeted. "I was looking for Clarke, have you seen her?"

   The woman nodded, still smiling. "She's in the land of dreams. Totally knocked out."

   The young brunette giggled. Knowing Clarke, the blonde had eaten, complained because Lexa wasn't there and then fallen asleep without even taking the time to take off her clothes. She was about to speak, when a loud sound, similar to a thunder, resounded in the air. Anya's head snapped up. For a moment she looked confused, then her eyes widened and she grabbed Costia's arm. "Go wake up Clarke. Quick, go!"

   The girl jumped up from the log and took off running, directed towards the general's tent. The woman, meanwhile, stood up slowly, never taking her eyes off the red thing that was currently falling from the sky. It wasn't possible, _not again_. Hurried footsteps sounded closer and then Clarke - barely awake - and Costia went to stand by her sides.

   "What? What's happening?" the blonde asked, rubbing her eyes to keep the tiredness away.

   "Look." Anya pointed the falling object with a finger. Clarke squinted her eyes to clear her sight through the fog of sleep, and gasped when she saw what her mother was pointing at.

   Costia was the first one to break the silence. "What's that?" she asked.

   "Please, nomon, tell me that _at least that thing_ is a freaking shooting star." Clarke pleaded, two fingers pinching the base of her nose.

   "You wish." Anya answered.

   Her daughter groaned, throwing her head back, whining pitifully, making Costia chuckle. "Fine, I'll go get a horse. Dammit."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "What is that? Can you see it?"

   "It comes from the Ark! They're sending help!"

   "Do you think there are weapons in there? I hope so."

   Wells exited the Dropship to see what all the fuss was about, and he saw it too. There was a pod, surely from the Ark, that was coming down from the space. They were finally getting help, and maybe a radio to communicate. "Hey, Bell! You gotta see this!" Octavia's voice dragged him out of his daze and he turned just in time to see Bellamy come out from one of the small makeshift tents placed all around the Dropship.

   While the others watched the descent of the thing, Wells started looking for his backpack. They needed to go take a look, as soon as possible. As he turned to go back into the Dropship, he met Monty's eyes and asked: "Hey, Monty. Where's Finn? We need to go look into that pod, maybe there's a radio in there that we can use to talk to the Ark."

   The asian boy shrugged, sinking his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "I don't know, I haven't seen him since he stormed out after we fried all the wristbands." he said.

   "I'm here."

   The two boys turned to see Finn approach them, panting slightly, as if he had hurried back to camp from wherever he was before. "Ok, then." Wells said, scratching his neck. "We need to get ready to leave as soon as-"

   "No." Bellamy's voice interrupted him. The tall boy neared him and looked him straight in his eyes. "No one leaves until sunrise."

   "But Bell," Octavia chimed in. "what if the grounders get there first?"

   Her brother just shook his head. "We can't risk going out at night. Now go to sleep, everyone. We'll leave tomorrow morning. End of the discussion."

 

   _The Ark_

 

   Entering the room with her head down, Abby found her husband laying on the bed, his hands on his eyes. She went to sit next to him, resting a hand on his chest.

   "Abby. Is everything ok?" the man asked, looking at her with worried eyes.

   The woman sighed heavily and shook her head, defeated. "Today I had to tell a man that his daughter's going to be blind because of chronic oxygen deprivation. And then I had to lie to him, and say that the engineers will fix the problem, when I know that's not gonna happen." Jake got up to sit next to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. "And then I found out that Jaha wants to be in section seventeen when they remove all the oxygen, but I couldn't make him change his mind."

   At that, the man sighed sadly and asked in a whisper: "What now?"

   After a few seconds a new fire enlightened in her eyes, and Abby said, her voice determined: "We do what I should have helped you do a long time ago."

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "Wells? What's happening? Aren't we going to find the pod?" a little voice asked.

   Wells looked down at his side and saw Charlotte, that was looking at him with an unsure expression. The boy nodded, wanting to reassure the little girl even though he had spent the last half an hour looking for Bellamy, without results. "Of course we are, I just need to find Bellamy first. Have you seen him, maybe?" he asked the child, that just shook her head, her eyebrows still knitted. Wells gave her a little smile. "Ok, don't worry. I'll find him."

   Charlotte gave him back a small smile and waved at him, then ran back into the Dropship. A few moments later, the dark skinned guy daw a familiar face walk right next to him. "Hey Murphy."

   The boy looked at him with a shit-eating grin on his lips. He rubbed his nose with a hand and asked: "What do you want, chancellor?"

   "Where's Bellamy?" Wells asked in an alarmed tone.

   The light brown-haired boy shrugged, still smirking. "Do I look like his baby-sitter to you, chancellor? Try looking in his tent, he's probably fucking some random girl like he does half the time, anyway." he went to turn away and leave when Wells' voice stopped him.

   "He's not in his tent, he's just not in the camp. We can't find him."

   Murphy huffed, clearly annoyed, but turned to look at him anyway. "Then we both have no idea where he is. Why do you even care?"

   "I wanted to talk to him about where the pod could have landed. But I can't do it if he's disappeared." Wells put his hands on his hips, thinking to every place Bellamy could have run to. He needed to find him.

   "He already did."

   "What?" Wells asked, suddenly really interested in the other boy's words.

   Murphy scoffed, and repeated: "He already talked about it, with Jones. He knows where the pod is, he just want us to wait 'til sunrise."

   The dark skinned boy stayed silent for a while, then facepalmed, cursing himself for his own stupidity. He ran to find Finn, who was currently speaking with Monty inside the Dropship, and told him: "That dick played us all. He went alone to find the pod, he probably wants the radio all for himself. We need to hurry."

 

_In the forest_

 

   Lincoln was following the boy with black curly hair, together with another scout, a young girl named Nadia, with long, dirty-blonde hair and light brown eyes. The two kept some distance from the sky boy, not wanting him to be aware of their presence. Suddenly, another pair of feet stomping loudly on the ground informed them of another sky person catching up with them.

   In fact, after a few moments, a lean figure jumped out from behind a tree and started yelling at the sky boy. Lincoln recognized her, it was the young girl with black hair that got an injured leg on their first day on earth. From where they were, he and Nadia couldn't make out everything the two were saying, but they understood that the boy had killed someone for the young girl and that the latter wasn't pleased by that in the slightest. After the girl yelled that the guy was 'a selfish dick' and he pushed her away from himself, the two sky persons went two separate ways. The two scouts agreed to do the same. Nadia followed the guy, and Lincoln caught up with the sky girl.

   After a few minutes, they reached a small hill. The girl was walking quietly, muttering things to herself in an angry tone, when Lincoln stepped on a twig, making it snap loudly. The man immediately stopped, afraid that he had revealed his presence. He glanced at the girl, that looked alarmed. She started running, trying to get away from whatever had made that noise, but doing so she tripped, and Lincoln saw as she rolled down the small hill.

   After a moment of hesitation, he approached the girl to try and evaluate her condition. Luckily, she was alive, but her head was bleeding and her leg was injured, again. Now, Lincoln was no healer, but he could still try. Heda's orders were not to kill them, she never said that they couldn't help them.

 

_In the woods_

 

   The general and the Flaimkeeper arrived where the object had landed before the sun could raise. They dismounted from their horses - Clarke had spent an hour complaining because her horse wasn't _her_ horse, Rufus, that she had given to the scout to bring the message to Polis days before - and carefully walked nearer to the thing. Both unsheathed their swords, then Clarke got even nearer and knocked on the metal side of the box. Nobody answered, so she knocked again, louder.

   When, again, nobody answered, Anya shrugged and told her to: "Just open that thing."

   Putting away her sword, Clarke grabbed the handle placed on one side of the metal box and pulled. The side lifted enough for them to look inside. The first thing they both noticed, was the unconscious girl strapped in tightly inside the small cabin. She was wearing a weird suit, similar to the one used by the mountain men, but not quite the same. Clarke heard Anya put away her sword and then snort slightly.

   The blonde turned to look at her mother with questioning eyes and the woman shrugged again. "What, it's oddly familiar, don't you think?" Anya asked with a grin.

   "Oh, so what, are you gonna adopt her too?" Clarke joked, trying at the same time to see if the girl in the suit was still alive.

   "Depends. Do you want a sister?"

   She was about to answer when one of the scouts that were with them whistled the signal, skaikru coming their way. The two hurried up, closing the side of the box and running back among the trees, their horses near them, quietly eating the grass. After a minute or so, a boy with black curly hair came running from the forest. Clarke immediately recognized him, he was the one with the gun, the leader.

   The guy stopped in front of the metal box and looked around to make sure he was alone - clearly his sight wasn't exactly the best - and then he pulled the box's side open. They observed while he used a knife to cut something inside the box and then yanked it away. After that, he closed the box and took off running. Immediately, Anya sent two scouts to follow him, relieving Nadia from the task.

   "Hey, Nadia." started Clarke. "Where is Lincoln?"

   "I don't know." the girl answered. "We separated when this boy met a sky girl in the woods."

   Clarke thanked and dismissed the girl, then went back to sit next to her mother. They stayed there, considering what to do. That metal box was surely from their ship, up in the space. The sky goufas would have wanted to take a look, the two of them just had to be patient. At the same time, they knew there was a person in that thing, probably injured and in need of help. Maybe they should have tried to do something, Clarke thought. At the end she decided that if within half an hour nobody had helped that girl, she would have done it. She's was still a healer after all. That _was_ her job.

   After a couple minutes that they were sitting there quietly, Anya started smirking - rather suspiciously - and then nudged Clarke with an elbow to get her attention. "Soo," she started. She was practically glowing, it was weird. "someone told me that you consider me the best mother you could have asked for."

   The blonde sighed dramatically, throwing her head back. "Why can't that girl keep her mouth shut?"

 

   _The Ark_

 

   " _People of the Ark._ " the recorded voice resounded everywhere in the ship. " _My name is Jake Griffin. I'm senior environmental engineer and deputy resource officer. Today, I need to talk to you about our future._ "

   "Are you sure it's actually playing everywhere?" Abby asked, standing behind the console where Jake had connected the device with the message he had recorded all those months before.

   The man nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

   " _The things I need to tell you are serious. The Ark is dying. This city in space that has been our sanctuary._ "

   Jake made sure that the door was locked, so that the guards couldn't enter the room before the message had finished playing.

   " _Time is running out. This is an undeniable reality, but we have pledged our lives to make sure that humanity does not share that fate._ "

   "This time, we will get floated for sure." Jake said, hearing footsteps in the hallway behind the door.

   "You said that three times, already."

   " _Now, while there is still time, we must come together and face this crisis head on._ "

   The footsteps got closer to the door.

   " _I believe it will bring out the best in us... our strength, our humanity, our faith... that we will come together in time of uncertainty._ "

   After that, Abby disconnected the device with the message and started talking directly to the camera. "My husband was arrested for trying to warn us." she started. "In twelve hours, three-hundred twenty people will be sacrificed to extend our oxygen supply, unless we take action."

   The footsteps got even closer and the guards started pounding at the door. "Jacob and Abigail Griffin," a guard yelled. "open this door immediately."

   "The future doesn't belong the chancellor or the council." Abby insisted, looking at the camera. "It belongs to all of us."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, I really hope my representation of Anya was good enough in this chapter.
> 
> Next chapter is already done, so if you want I can post that early - like tomorrow - you choose.
> 
> Next: Clarke and Anya meet Raven, and the delinquents try out the "flares".


	7. Ever Heard About Fireworks?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lincoln is disappeared, Raven meets the grounders, and there are fireworks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as promised, here an early chapter!  
> It's a little shorter, but it will do.
> 
> Remember: _italic _is for Trigedasleng when there are skaikru too.__
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _Enjoy!_  
>  _

 

   " _You know what? I'm done waiting, I'll go take a look._ "

   It was at least half an hour that Clarke and her mother had been waiting there, watching the pod, and nobody had arrived yet. The girl inside was probably injured and Clarke was still a healer, so she got up and carefully walked towards the metallic box, Anya behind her. When they got close enough, a noise from inside the pod made them stop. A soft whine followed, so Clarke thought ' _fuck it_ ' and pulled the box's side open. The girl inside of it had just took off the sort of helmet she was wearing before, revealing her slightly dark skin and brunette hair. She looked confused, and Clarke immediately knew it was because she had hurt her head, if the thin line of blood staining her forehead was anything to go by. What neither Clarke or Anya were expecting, though, was that the girl would jump, scared, and shy away from them the second she became aware of their presence.

   " _Hey, it's okay. I'm a healer, I can help you._ " Clarke said, trying to get her to calm down.

   The girl actually did calm down, if only slightly, and stopped trying to get away from them. She swallowed and continued to stare at them, especially Anya, that had her sword ready in her hand. Clarke, sensing the girl's fear - she couldn't really blame her - waved at her mother to put away the blade. She had to insist a little, since Anya was being protective and didn't want to take any risks, but at the end she did as Clarke said.

   Seeing the general put away her weapon, the girl calmed down even more, gulping slightly. "I... am I on earth?" she whispered, her voice a little strained, but she didn't receive an answer, so she tried again. "Did I make it?" she asked, louder this time.

   Clarke threw a glance at her mother. They knew the drill, 'don't talk'. If you don't talk with a stranger, you will not tell them anything risky.

   When they didn't answer her - again - the girl cleared her throat and said: "Do you know where we are?"

   The blonde ignored her, instead opting for helping her get out of that metal box. It didn't look too comfortable. " _She hurt her head, she'll probably feel light-headed in a few moments._ " Clarke told the general, that immediately started looking for a good place to make the girl sit. She gestured her to bring the girl towards a small rock, so Clarke waited for the girl to take off her weird suit and then guided her silently, making her sit.

   "I'm sorry," the girl said, while Clarke inspected her head. The brunette glanced at Anya, that was standing there with her arms crossed. "but I don't understand you. I'm Raven."

   The young girl hissed quietly when Clarke used her hands to tilt the brunette's head, looking attentively at the small wound. It wasn't as bad as it seemed to be at first, so the blonde asked gently to her mother to bring her, her bag that was still with her horse. After a few seconds, the woman had brought her the item and the healer was rummaging through the supplies in it. She always brought with her some medical supplies, some would call her paranoid but she thought that you can never know when you'll need them. Like now.

   "Who are you?" Raven tried again. "Do you know where I can find the others, they're young, dressed like me...?" the others didn't answer and she started becoming anxious. "Is there someone here who can speak English?" she said in an urgent tone.

   Instead of answering all her questions, even if both she and her mother knew most of the answers, Clarke just took a small can from her bag and opened it. It contained a light-green cream, made of medical herbs, that would have been helpful for the girl's head. She applied it on a piece of cloth and showed it to the girl, gesturing to her head. Raven seemed to understand, because she flashed the blonde a grateful smile - well, as much as a wary smile can appear grateful - and let her apply the medicine to her forehead. She found that it was oddly refreshing, and she sighed contentedly.

   " _I don't like it, Clarke. We should be more careful._ " Anya murmured to her, her eyes carefully scanning their surroundings in search of possible threats.

   " _Do you remember that thing you told me once, that if you let someone talk long enough, they'll say everything you want to know, without you having to ask?_ " the healer said, keeping her voice down even though the sky girl couldn't understand their words. " _That's exactly what we're doing right now. We need to know what they're here for, and maybe she'll tell us something useful, if we let her talk._ "

   The general stared at her for a few moments like she was in shock. " _You're just so sneaky, sometimes, that you almost scare me._ "

   "Shit! I need to tell them...!" Suddenly, Raven jumped up and got into the pod, cursing under her breath. She came out again looking alarmed. "Stupid, I lost the radio!" she scolded herself. "I had to tell them that the ground is survivable, now all those people will die because of me!"

 

  ///

 

   Raven was still running around, the medical cream pressed to her forehead under the cloth, whining about her own stupidity for the lost radio. She was so worried about the hundreds of people that would have died if she didn't send the message, that she practically forgot about the two grounders still watching her.

   "I need to let them know." she mumbled, a hand on her forehead, keeping the cloth pressed to the skin. "This is incredible. The air... everything..." she did a little twirl and smiled, then she looked at the two women in front of her.

   The older one was really fucking scary, with her high cheekbones and her keen eyes. The woman was tall, her leather coat hugging her body in a way that made her look even taller. Raven's eyes couldn't help looking at the sword casually hanging from her hip. The other one, instead, was pale and young, probably younger than Raven herself, her long hair was sun-like blonde and tied in elegant braids. What was really _disturbing_ was the color of her eyes. They were a familiar shade of blue, light and bright like the ocean Raven could see from the windows on the Ark. She noticed how the scary one - _scarier_ , actually. The blonde one was pretty scary, too - always seemed to keep a hand on the hilt of her sword, watching Raven as if to predict her moves. She stood near the younger girl, and the mechanic had this weird feeling about her, but she decided to shove it in the back of her mind for now. She had things to do.

   The brunette girl closed the side of the pod and turned to face the two strangers. "I need to let them know that there's life down here. Do you understand me?" she said. "If I don't do it, a lot of people will die, I have to find the others, they dress like me. Can you help me?"

   Raven stared at the two in front of her. Something was telling her that these two didn't understand a word she was saying. How was she supposed to ask for their help if she couldn't communicate? She was about to say something else, when the two jumped for a weird whistle coming from the trees. A moment later, the girl heard a familiar voice calling her name, and she turned to see who it was. A bright smile took place on her lips when she saw Finn running towards her with little Jaha in tow. Raven turned to face the two strangers again, but they were nowhere to be seen. Disappeared.

   "What the fuck?"

 

   _Two hours later_

 

   "Fuck him and his stupid selfish self." Raven muttered, the water at her knees height.

   They were looking for her radio, that she had thought she lost, bit instead that dickhead - named Bellamy - had stolen and thrown in a lake. Only to save his selfish ass. And now, he was nice and dry on the shore, while all the others idiots - Raven included - were wet like penguins and getting wetter by the minute, searching the damn lake. Nobody mentioned the risk of losing a leg in the stomach of a water snake, but whatever. The radio was more important.

   "Hey."

   Finn's voice dragged her out of her murdering thoughts and she lifted her head. "Hey."

   "Raven, who were the two persons you were talking to when we arrived?" he asked. "They were grounders, weren't they?"

   The girl only nodded, still wondering why they had disappeared like that. "Well, they sure as hell didn't look like us. Why?"

   "Nothing, I'm just worried for you. They could have hurt you, or worse."

   The brunette shook her head, disbelief written all over her face. "No, no way. They helped me, Finn. Sure, they were scary as fuck, but I think one of them was something like a medic, and she helped me. They both did." From the look on his face, she could tell he didn't believe her, and that made her groan and shift her gaze back to the water. "What's the problem with them, Finn?" she asked.

   The boy huffed, running a hand through his hair. "They almost killed Jasper. With a spear."

   The girl looked shocked only for a few seconds, then she shook her head and went back to searching the lake. "Maybe they weren't the same persons, but either way, those two helped me. End of the story."

 

  ///

 

   Wells heard Jones shout that he had found the radio and a moment later the new girl, Raven, was examining it. Though, if the look on her face was anything to go by, it wasn't in a good estate.

   "Might take a day to dry, then I can see which parts are broken. But I can't fix it in time." she said, her shoulders slumped down.

   Wells started pacing wildly. They needed to find a solution, and quickly, or a lot of people would have died. He wanted to yell at Bellamy, to scold him for his selfishness and stupidity, but he knew it wouldn't have been of any help. They needed to let the Ark know they were alive. They could have given one of the wristbands to Raven to work with, if they hadn't fried them all the night before. Dammit, if they had waited one single day to try that out, maybe now they would have had a solution, already.

   "Wait a minute, we don't actually have to _talk_ to them to let them know we're alive." Raven said, suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to herself.

   "What do you mean?" Wells asked, silently hoping that that girl was a hidden genius.

   A devilish smirk strained the brunette's lips, and she said: "We could make them see it."

   "What?!" Finn chimed in, by the girl's side. His expression was worried, a slight furrow between his eyebrows.

   Bellamy shifted his weight from a leg to the other and huffed. "How do you plan to do that?" he asked.

   Wells saw as the smirk on Raven's face got wider and wider, until she answered rather smugly: "Ever heard about fireworks?"

 

   _In the woods_

 

   "So, I get the 'we're getting information' part, but why have you been so... _polite_? It was that necessary?" Anya asked, slightly swaying because of the rhythmic pace of her horse.

   The blonde just grinned. "Nope. It wasn't."

   "Then why did you-" the general took a better look at her daughter, her eyes studying her. "For the love the spirit, why are you smiling like that?"

   Clarke chuckled, shaking her head. "You really don't see it, do you?" she asked, rhetorically. "I helped her so she will speak good of us to her friends."

   A few moments of silence followed her words, and she waited patiently for her mother to process them. "So, you helped her so that she would say good things about us to her people?" Anya said, dumbfounded.

   "Yep."

   "That's just... clever."

   "Thank you."

   Obviously, Clarke had really wanted to help the girl, she had studied her whole life to be a healer, that was just like a second nature for her by now. At the same time, they hadn't really made the best first impression throwing a spear in that boy's chest the first day. She didn't want to fight another war, so she tried to be kind towards the stranger so that she would tell her people. It was worth the try.

   "Have we heard from Lincoln, yet?" Clarke asked, suddenly. Her friend had disappeared following a sky girl, he was due to report hours ago. She was starting to worry.

   "No," Anya said, shrugging. "the others scouts are back, but they think he just went to his shelter in the woods. You know how he is, sometimes he just vanishes."

   "Hum." the blonde thought about that for a few minutes, then she tugged at the reins of hes horse to make him stop. "I think I'll go see him, if you don't mind. Just to check everything's still in place, I'll be back soon."

   Anya looked worried for less than a second, then she nodded with a sweet smile. "Alright, go. I guess I'll see you later, then."

   "Yeah. Thank you, you're the best nomon ever." she pressed a swift kiss on the woman cheek and turned her horse, taking off through the forest, directed towards her friend's secret-but-not-so-secret shelter.

   Unknowin to her, Anya was still rooted to the spot she had left her in, a happy smile forming on her lips, conquering her eyes. "The best nomon ever." she whispered to herself turning her horse to head to TonDC. "Best nomon ever. _Ha._ "

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "So your plan is to launch these things in the sky and make them go boom." Wells wondered, helping Raven with the setting of the launchers. He had to admit, it was actually a good plan.

   "Yes." the girl said. "Launch, fly, go boom. That's the plan."

   "Hey," they heard Bellamy's voice and turned to face him and Murphy, who didn't look utterly bored for once. Bellamy continued: "are you sure they're gonna see those fireworks from the Ark?" he asked.

   "Positive." Raven answered. "Abby sure as hell will be watching."

   "Abby?" Wells suddenly asked. "Abby Griffin?"

   The girl shrugged. "Yeah, her. She sent me here, the pod was her idea."

   Wells' head felt suddenly light, and stared at the girl in front of him with wide eyes.

   "Are you ok?" she asked him, her eyes worried. "Do you need to sit?"

   The boy shook his head, the shock already passed. He still wondered if Abby had sent the girl on the ground for the same reason she had sent him. Clarke.

   "Let's get back to work. I'm fine."

 

   _The Ark_

 

   Standing there watching the three-hundred twenty volunteers leaving the identification chip on the table and walk into level seventeen was something Jake and Abby would have never expected to witness. It was the proof, that the man was right. Knowing the truth had really brought out the best in them.

   Jaha was still yelling at them that their thing with the recorded speech had caused a riot, when the four hundred people had sent that man to talk to her. Tor Lemkin, the man whose daughter Reese was blind from an eye, because of the lack of oxygen. The man she had lied to that same morning. When he had said he wanted to volunteer, nobody had had the courage to believe him. They didn't believe the second person that hade come out that door, either, but at the end of the day they had four hundred volunteers, more than necessary, and they had had to believe them. They just had to.

   And now, they were going to kill them all, and Abby was _so hoping_ that Raven would contact them to say that the ground was survivable. That would have saved so many innocent lifes, just a few words. Those words didn't come.

   Jake held tightly his wife when Jaha lowered his hand on the console and killed them all. He tried not to cry, he had to be strong from her, and she did the same. After what felt like hours, they were told everything was over. In that moment, Jaha's words regarding their children and Raven, ' _Just like our own_ ', echoed in their minds, haunting them, making it impossible for them to sleep.

   Hours later, the two were wide awake, staring out of a window, admiring the Earth. They passed a bottle of alcohol, taking small sips, trying to keep the nightmares away. Then they saw them.

   They were like purple, little points running on the surface of the planet, and then they got brighter and brighter, until they exploded in white little circles of light. The couple gasped, shocked and hopeful. The kids were alive. It was still too late.

 

   _The Dropship_

 

   "I think I like this."

   "Yeah, me too."

   Wells was sat on a trunk, Charlotte next to him cuddled up against his side, looking at the sky with wide eyes. She hadn't lost her haunted expression, but the boy was helping her so she wasn't feeling completely alone, anymore. For the first time, she really felt that she could do it. She would have overcome her pain, and come out stronger than before. She was sure of it.

   The two kept looking at the sky, lighted by those rockets Raven had turned into fireworks. They observed how those things would fly up high, followed by this weird purple light, and become so bright, and then suddenly, make _boom!_ and explode in a white bubble of brilliant light. It all had something poetic, if they thought about that.

   They kept watching the sky and the fireworks until they both fell asleep, Charlotte still cuddled up against the bigger boy's side, with Wells' arms wrapped around her in a protective manner, shielding her from the world. A small smile curved the child's lips. The nightmares didn't come to her that night.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good? Bad? Hopefully good.
> 
> Let me know what you think.
> 
> Next Chapter: Where is Lincoln? ;)


	8. You Carry Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke discovers what Lincoln has been up to and things get messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since a few of you were confused about it: The flares didn't hit the grounder's village, they exploded in the air. Sorry if it wasn't super clear.  
> Warning: there's a little violence in this chapter, nothing bad really. But be safe.  
> Sorry for any mistakes, and enjoy!

 

   Anya and Indra were sitting at a table, talking quietly while drinking some cider, relaxing after another tiring day, when it happened. Something bright, scarily similar to the missiles used by the mountain men, went flying in the sky. It was well late into the night and most of the people of TonDC were already asleep, that was the only reason why it didn't cause a panic. The two generals were sure those things would have downed on them in a matter of seconds, instead they started getting brighter, and then they exploded in white bubbles of light, leaving them dumbfounded and confused.

   "What...?"

   The two glanced at each other, worried, trying to figure out what those weird things in the sky were. At the end, Indra muttered: "I'll tell the scouts to double the surveillance on the skaikru."

   "Yeah." Anya said, "Good plan."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   Wells woke up with a groan. He was on the ground, confused, and definitely sore. His back was pressed against a trunk, and next to him, still curled up against his side, held securely in his arms, little Charlotte was still sleeping. The boy smiled, stretching his neck until he heard a loud pop, and he sighed satisfied.

   "Have you seen Octavia?"

   Wells jumped in surprise, having completely forgotten the reason he had woken up. Bellamy nudged his leg with a foot and asked again: "Well?"

   The other boy shook his head, squinting his eyes to see him better through the thick wall of tiredness. "You know her. She probably just sneaked out to have some fun." he muttered.

   But the older boy shook his head, his eyes wide and worried. "This time is different, she didn't come back all day, and nobody knows anything."

   Wells knitted his eyebrows, understanding his not-really-a-friend's concern, and nodded. "Fine, I'll help you. Just, let me bring Charlotte in the Dropship, first."

   Bellamy nodded and went to ask somebody else if they had seen his sister, while Wells took Charlotte in his arms and started carrying her towards the Dropship. When he went to lay her down, the child opened her eyes, only a bit, and smiled when she recognized him.

   "Wh't a'pening?" she asked, her voice a little raspy for the sleep.

   "Hey, Charlotte. I just have to go help Bellamy with some stuff." he said, putting a small strand of dirty blonde hair behind her ear. "Go back to sleep."

   The little girl nodded slightly, sighed, and turned on her side, falling back asleep in a few seconds. When Wells exited the Dropship, only moments later, Bellamy had organized a small search party, and was now waiting for everyone to get ready. When he got near him, the taller boy nodded towards him and then pointed to Finn, that was arguing with Raven about something. Sighing, the dark skinned boy decided to chime in, since they didn't have all night, one of them was missing, after all.

   "Hey," he said, stepping near the arguing couple. "Finn, we need to go."

   "Yes, Finn. You need to go." the brunette said to her boyfriend, crossing her arms on her chest.

   Finn shook his head. "I'm not letting you go out there alone, those grounders may have helped you, but they're surely not the only persons around here. It's too dangerous."

   The girl scoffed, outraged. "I don't need _you_ to _let me_ do anything, I'm a big girl and if I want to go somewhere then you bet I'll fucking do it. Now tell me where that goddamn bunker is." she said, her brown eyes determined and angry.

   "No way."

   "Ok, ok stop." Wells blurted out, annoyed. "We don't have time for this, what's the matter?"

   Raven pointed an accusing finger toward her boyfriend and said: "He knows where I can find a transmitter for the radio, but he won't tell me until he's back from your trip to find Octavia so that he can come with me."

   "Well, but-" he started, but Finn interrupted him.

   "I don't care what you say, you're not going alone."

   "As if you could stop me."

   "Enough!" Wells snapped, silencing the other two. "Finn, they need you to follow the traces. Now tell me where this bunker is, and I'll go with Raven, I can help her orientate. Ok?"

   After a few minutes, Finn had explained him how to find the bunker and Raven had accepted Wells’ offer of help. They were getting ready to leave, when they heard Murphy's voice commenting Finn's tardiness. "Thank God, another few minutes and we should have started looking for a grandma."

   Wells heard Raven snort as she took off walking with a grin on her lips.

 

    _In the woods_

 

   Clarke guided her horse to her friend's cave and tugged the reins to make him stop. She jumped down, tied the animal near a small bucket filled with water and stepped inside, calling out for Lincoln. The man didn't answer right away, so she walked deeper in the cave and entered in a small room, the stone walls covered with graffiti and drawings. Clarke huffed, slightly annoyed, when she saw that Lincoln wasn't there. She was about to head back out and go look for him elsewhere, when she noticed the man's bag resting in a corner. He wouldn't have left that in the cave if he wasn't going to come back soon. Plus, the fire had been lit not long ago, since it was still fairly warm in there. Thinking that her friend was probably going to come back soon, she went to sit on a pelt and stole an apple from a basket perched on a small table. She had just finished eating it, when her eye fell on a knife, thrown next to the fire. Clarke could tell from its color that it had been heated not long ago, and she started to worry. Maybe Lincoln had been injured?

   Just after she had thought that, the man in question stepped into the cave, his dark eyes a little worried. "Hey, Clarke."

   "Lincoln! Are you ok? I saw the knife, are you injured?" the girl asked, relieved that he was there and seemingly fine, but still a little worried.

   "Yes, I'm fine." he said, trying to reassure his friend. Then he took a deep breath and confessed: "The knife wasn't for me. I... did something."

   Clarke blinked a few times, already sensing that whatever it was, it was going to get her in trouble. "You did something."

   He nodded, signaling her to follow him to the other room. She ran a hand on her face, exasperated, but followed him nonetheless. She expected a lot of things, really, but what she got wasn't anything like that. Because, when she stepped into the room with Lincoln, the room was _empty_. Still, the man gasped and cursed under his breath, so clearly there was something wrong.

   "Lincoln, seriously, I'm confused." the blonde said, gesturing to the empty space. "What is it that you did?"

   "I was following that sky girl, but she fell and was injured. I..." he paused for a second trying to find the right words. "I wanted to help her. So I brought her here, cauterized the wound on her leg. She was unconscious when I left."

   He was met by silence when Clarke just tried to contain her disbelief. Thinking about it, she had helped that other sky girl, so she couldn't exactly be mad at him for that. No, she was mad because he had brought her to his shelter in the woods, in the depth of the Trikru territory. That was insanely stupid, for her people could have followed their traces and found the cave. That, was what made her mad. She breathed deeply, not wanting to snap at him for one of the very few mistakes he had ever done, instead opting for being a good friend and help him.

   "She's probably lost somewhere, but we have to find her soon. Lexa's orders were to not let any of the sky people within our borders, if one of our scouts sees her, she's dead."

 

  ///

 

   "This way." Finn murmured, leading them through the forest, following a trial only he could see.

   "Everybody, eyes sharp. We just crossed another boundary, and we know what they will do if they find us." Bellamy warned them.

   Immediately, everybody's minds went to Jasper. He had crossed a boundary, and he had been speared. So, they better be careful. Proceeding among the trees, they followed Finn's lead, praying nobody would see them. They weren't lucky. After half an hour or so, a hiss cut the air and an arrow planted on the ground in front of their feet, then another.

   Too near, Bellamy thought, to be a coincidence. "Warning shots." he whispered to the others, trying to calm them down. A few of them were looking at their surroundings with too much fear in their eyes, if they didn't keep it in, something bad was bound to happen. "Keep calm."

   "We have to go back." Roma whined. "Bellamy, please."

   "No! We can't go back!" he snapped, scaring her even more. "We're not going back until we find Octavia."

   They took several steps forward, ignoring the warning shots, and getting others two arrow even nearer to their feet. "Let's just go back, if your sister was here she's dead by now, anyway!" the girl blurted out, panicking.

   Murphy tried to grab her arm, scanning the forest around them, but she wiggled our of his hold. A few moments later, an arrow drove right into Mbege's neck, Roma screamed in fear and started to run.

   "Wait, Roma!"

 

  ///

 

   Octavia was running, well, she was trying to. That grounder had helped her with her leg, but she wasn't exactly at her best now, and her knee still hurt, same as her head and, well, basically anything else. She was panting, tired and of the verge of collapsing, trying to find her way to the camp. She was pretty lost, though, and she had to admit it to herself, she didn't know how to go back. Just when she was ready to just sit and wait for someone to find her, it happened.

   Voices, familiar voices reached her ear, spurring her to get up and limp in their direction. She finally saw them, Bellamy, Finn, Murphy, and a few others. They were running and yelling, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She was about to shout her brother's name, when a black mass jumped right in front of her, scaring her so much that she fell on her ass. She lifted her eyes and gasped.

   A big, black horse was hovering over her, waving his head and huffing, tired for the long run. On his back, a blonde woman, dressed in leather and with a sword tied on her back, was staring at her with her piercing light blue eyes. She was pale and lithe, clearly in great shape if the way she jumped down from the big animal was anything to go by. Octavia whimpered and tried to crawl away from the blonde grounder when she saw her striding confidently towards her. The girl grabbed her by her jacket and tugged her up, making her stand. The black-haired girl opened her mouth to call her brother, asking for help, but the grounder was faster. In a second she was behind her, holding her still with an arm while covering her mouth with her free hand. Octavia trembled, scared that the girl was going to kill her right then and there, and closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

   " _Sshh._ " the blonde whispered instead. A moment later, the loud sound of a horn echoed through the woods, making everybody still.

 

  ///

 

   "What is that?" Murphy asked, panting.

   He, Finn, Bellamy and Jasper were the only ones still alive. The grounders, after killing Mbege, had speared Roma, pinning her to a tree, and Diggs had gotten into a trap. They clearly weren't welcome, there.

   Among the four of them, Finn was the only one who knew what the horn meant, because he had already heard that sound once, at the lake. And he didn't like what followed.

   "Acid fog."

 

  ///

 

   " _They're gone. Skaikru are safe for now._ " Lincoln said huffing, only slightly breathless after the run.

   Clarke took a relieved sigh, uncovering the girl's mouth. She made her turn and tilted her head to the side, sighing again, bored this time, when she saw a trail of dried blood staining the girl's cheek and forehead. " _Why do these sky people always hurt their heads?_ " she muttered, not expecting an answer.

   Lincoln exhaled, watching the two girls closely. " _You'll help me, then?_ "

   " _Fine._ " Clarke groaned. Then she pushed the girl towards the man, still annoyed at him for getting them both in such trouble. " _But you carry her._ "

 

    _TonDC_

 

   The two messengers arrived at the village in a hurry, one of them on Rufus' back. Anya took her daughter's horse's reins in a hand and caressed the two heads of the animal with the other, willing him to calm down.

   The message from Polis was clear, they had to keep following their former order to make sure no sky person invaded their territory. If those children didn't trespass they wouldn't have killed them, and Anya agreed. She agreed as well to the part where Lexa said that at the first sign of an alliance between Skaikru and Maunon, the commander would have left Polis and a war would have been inevitable. For now, since Clarke had said in her own previous message that they had it under control, Lexa would trust them and stay in the capital. The general almost laughed when she read the part where the girl explained her decision about making Ontari Luna's second, but she knew Lexa was right about that, too.

   She told the messengers to go get some rest before they had to go back to Polis and took off to go see if Clarke was back from Lincoln's cave yet, Rufus following her meekly. The woman guided the black horse to a trough, then stepped in the tent they shared, calling for Clarke. Soon enough, Anya was aware that the girl was nowhere to be seen and decided to go ask Indra or Costia if they had seen her. As she soon discovered, nobody had any idea where Clarke was.

   The general told herself that she was probably still with Lincoln and would have been back by the evening.

 

    _In the forest_

 

   "I think we're here." Wells said, getting a hold of the metallic handle of the door. He pulled hard and it shifted, revealing the entrance of a small bunker.

   "Good job, muscle man." Raven joked, heading in first.

   "So, what are we looking for?" the boy asked, starting to light the candles to clear some of the darkness in the room. The moment she could see something again, Raven started rummaging through the shelves and boxes scattered on the floor. "We need something that has a transmitter for radio frequencies. See if you find something that has a remote control or things like that."

   They kept searching for a while, opening everything that could be opened. At the end, Wells found a little yellow car. It had a small thing in the back, like a mini antenna. He showed it to the girl. "Like this one?" he asked.

   "Sweet. RF, radio frequency." the brunette examined the object half a minute, then said: "If we can just find the controller, we'll be golden."

   It took them less that three minutes to find it, and they were good to go.

 

***

 

   Walking loudly in the forest, the two had started talking. Wells admitted that Raven was crazy smart and fun to talk to, so he couldn't really complain. It was a nice change, the only person equally smart among the delinquents was Monty. Their small talk had eventually lead to some serious topics, and now they were deep into the 'how did Raven get down here' fase of the talk.

   "You're telling me that Abby sneaked Jake out of his confinement to come down here together?" Wells asked, only half shocked.

   The brunette grinned, stepping on a twig. "Badass, right?"

   "That's exactly what Clarke would have done if she was still here." the boy said, widening his eyes when he understood what he had just said.

   Raven's eyes narrowed, the grin still in its place. "I know that you know, you know?"

    _Wait, what?_

   "Well, of course I know about her, she was my best friend when we were children. How do _you_ know?" he answered, stopping to turn and face the girl.

   She blinked, her face blank. "Abby told me." she murmured. "She saw your tile go black and was worried. She thought you were dead."

   Wells sighed, running a hand on his face, his dark eyes closed. "Monty needed a wristband to try and fix our radio."

   Raven nodded, understanding his reason, but she didn'tet the topic drop. "Abby thinks she's still alive. Do you think it's possible?"

   "I don't know." he said in a low voice, locking his eyes with the girl in front of him. "Someone clearly is. If they did it, why not her?"

 

    _In the woods_

 

   Back in the cave, Lincoln dragged - gently - the sky girl in a smaller room and chained her, making sure she couldn't go anywhere. Clarke followed, carrying her bag.

   " _Let's see how she is._ "

   The blonde crouched next to the girl, who tried to get away but couldn't because of the stone wall behind her back. The blonde grounder held her hands up, reassuring the girl that she wasn't going to hurt her. When she seemed slightly calmer, she started looking at the injured leg, nodding to herself and then shifting to take a look at her head. The healer turned towards her friend with a sigh. " _It's not bad, but I should apply a medication to her injuries to avoid them going into decay._ "

   Lincoln nodded, understanding that just closing the wound with a heated knife sometimes wasn't enough. " _What do you need me to do?_ " he asked.

   " _Find something I can use as bandages and some water, then come here and hold her still. It's probably going to hurt a bit._ "

   The man nodded and did as he was told.

 

  ///

 

   Those two speaking in that weird language were seriously kreeping her out. Sure, they looked badass and everything, but they had fucking chained her. Octavia tried to escape while the big man was away, yanking at the chains but it was useless.

   The blonde girl looked at her unimpressed, pulling something out of her bag. It looked like a small can, and when she opened it, it revealed a weird greenish cream that smelled of herbs. The grounder dipped two fingers into the cream and scooted nearer to Octavia. She tried to get away, she tried but it was useless. The blue-eyed girl grabbed her jaw with her right hand and held her in that position, while with the other one she started massaging her temple, right in the spot where the skin had been injured. At first, it stung but after a few moments Octavia found herself relaxing, her skin feeling refreshed and soothed.

   " _Hmm._ " the blonde hummed satisfied, cleaning her fingers on Octavia's shirt.

   She would have seriously complained about the act, wasn't she so scared that the girl would have killed her.

   " _Found it._ " the dark-skinned grounder entered the room, saying something in that weird language, carrying some pieces of cloth. Octavia watched helplessly as the blonde one said: " _Alright, put one on her head, then I'll need you to keep her still. This is gonna be the hard part._ "

   Oh, how Octavia wished she could understand that freaking language now.

 

  ///

 

   The man bandaged the sky girl's head and then moved to her side, placing his arms around her. The girl, founding herself trapped in his muscular arms, tried to wriggle out of his hold, but she could barely move. Clarke saw her try to kick, and the blonde hooked her own leg around the girl's knees, making it impossible for her to fight in any way.

   "No, please! No, don't hurt me, please!"

   The brunette started screaming and begging, and the two grounders felt sincerely sorry for her. She was probably terribly scared, but they weren't going to hurt her. She was about to understand it. For the injury on her leg she needed another type of medicine, one that she hadn't brought with her, but she did have the plant she needed to make it. The blonde drew out of her bag a little sprig, covered in small leaves and berries. Clarke took a few leaves and only one berry, and put the rest away. Then, she put them in her mouth and started chewing, careful not to swallow for it could have made her throw up for hours if she did. She reduced it in a viscose paste, green-yellowish, and spitted it out on her own hand.

   " _Pass me the water._ " she told Lincoln, that took the small bucket and handed it to her. She used the water to clean her mouth, still not wanting to swallow the plant, and then poured it on the sky girl's leg, drawing a small whimper out of her. " _Ok, now hold her tight, alright? This is gonna burn._ " she said, and the man tightened his hold on the girl.

   "No, please no! Wait! Wait, please!"

   Clarke didn't wait. She put her hand on the girl's leg and started massaging the skin, spreading the paste on the injury. As predicted, the sky girl started crying and tried to kick her away from herself, wriggling in Lincoln's arms without success. When the blonde was sure that the paste had reached every spot it needed, she washed her hands and took a clean piece of cloth, tying it around the girl's leg, using it as a bandage.

   " _Done, you can let her go._ " she said, getting up. She waited for Lincoln to do the same and gestured him to follow her in the other room.

   " _Thank you. Really._ " the boy said, and from the look in his eyes the healer could say he was being sincere.

   " _It's ok._ " Clarke answered, wanting her friend to know that she didn't consider him in debt. " _But, as soon as she starts feeling better, we bring her back to her people. I'm not taking a 'no' for an answer._ "

   " _I know. Don't worry._ " Lincoln said, his head down. " _I just wanted to help her._ " he murmured.

   The blonde girl smiled sweetly at him, resting a hand on his shoulder. " _I know. I'm not blaming you for that, I did the same thing just yesterday. But you brought her here, and that almost caused a war today. Maybe it actually did, and if that is what has happened then a lot of people will die. You have to be more careful._ " she gently scolded him, knowing that he had the most noble intentions. But he had been stupid, and she had to make him understand that. " _Don't do something like this again. Ok?_ "

   The dark-skinned man nodded seriously. " _I know. I won't, don't worry. I want you to know that I'm sorry, though. I shouldn't have brought her here. But I won't regret helping her._ " he said, tilting his chin up, looking determined.

   Clarke snorted, shrugging slightly. " _I wouldn't want you to regret that, anyway._ "

 

***

 

   "This way, guys."

   They all followed Finn's voice, stepping deeper and deeper in the enemy's territory. After what felt like hours of pointless wandering in the woods, they heard a noise suspiciously similar to a voice. They hid behind a large tree and tried to spot the owner.

   "Holy shit." Finn whispered.

   "What...?" Jasper muttered under his breath.

   Bellamy didn't say anything, but he was thinking exactly the same things that Finn was. Because right in front of them stood a girl, around their age, with beautifully blonde hair, long and braided. She was lean and pale, and was putting on her coat, covering up her tight fitting, long sleeved shirt. She was saying something, but they couldn't understand what.

   " _Alright, so I'm gonna get some more water, then we'll took off with the girl._ "

   " _Sounds good._ " a male voice said. " _I'll start to unchain her, then, so when you're back we can leave._ "

   The blonde mounted on her horse with ease and made him turn. " _Deal. I'll be back in a few minutes._ "

   A moment later she was gone, and the man had gotten back inside the cave. "Do you think Octavia could be here?" Bellamy asked Finn, worried sick thinking about what those two savages could have done to his little sister, especially the big, muscled man.

   "Well, the man is big enough to have carried her here." the boy answered.

   In that moment, Murphy chimed in. "Yeah, but I don't remember you saying anything about horses while following the traces."

   "He could have carried her here on his own." the boy said. "Either way, we should go take look."

   Behind them, Murphy scoffed. "Alright. But don't come crying when that muscle monster smashes your horny heads for checking out his girlfriend."

 

  ///

 

   Octavia saw the grouder walk confidently towards her, and panicked. She kicked him repeatedly, making him grunt and trip, and when he was actually on the ground she knocked him out hitting his head with a small rock.

   Like fuck she was gonna stay there like that. He and his friend helped her, fine, thank you very much. But now she was gonna get out of that cave. She was trying to open the lock that held her chains together with the key she had taken from the grounder's hand when several pairs of feet stomped loudly in the room.

   "Bell?!"

 

  ///

 

   Clarke was back to the cave, having gotten the fresh water and was now ready to get this story over with. That sky girl was trouble and she was enjoying the period of peace too much to accept that. Everything she wanted was to get back to TonDc, take a long, relaxing bath and then ask her mother to let her go on vacation. With vacation, she meant Polis, Lexa and a whole year of uninterrupted cuddling. Of course that was a bit out of her reach, but whatever. A girl can dream.

   As if she was ever gonna get a vacation.

   She jumped down from the horse's back and re-entered the cave, without really paying attention. When she entered the small room when they had kept the girl, she said absent-mindedly: " _Hey, Lincoln. Do you think my nomon would get mad at me if I told her I wanted a vacation?_ " then she lifted her eyes and froze.

   In the room there were other four people, and she had already seen every single one of them. Next to the sky girl was the leader, the one with the gun. Then the stupid one that have fallen in the trap, the lean light-brown-haired boy and the spear target. Awesome.

   She locked eyes with Lincoln, still lying on the ground, and waited for him to be ready. The tension on the room was suffocating, but it was nothing compared to how tense Clarke's body had become, sensing the fight that was gonna take place right then and there. All her senses were sharpened, her mind already thinking about the fastest way to take them out without getting killed. That was not an option.

   The second she saw Lincoln's small nod, she charged at the boy at her left, hitting him hard in the face with the heel of her hand. His head snapped back and he fell backwards, stumbling. Taking advantage of his moment of confusion, she kicked him in the stomach, throwing him on the ground. At the same time Lincoln had turned and stabbed the guy with shaggy hair in the ribcage, knocking the air out of his lungs, then he launched at the slim one, pinning him down and making him hit the ground with his head.

   "No! Stop!" the sky girl screamed.

   Right when Clarke was about to attack the leader, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Lincoln.

   "Stop or die!"

 

  ///

 

   Bellamy could only watch as the blonde grounder attacked Murphy moving so fast that the boy didn't even have the time to react. He saw him fly backwards and a second later Finn had a knife in his ribcage and Jasper was pinned against the floor by that big grouder man. He saw the blonde looking at him and pulled out his gun.

   "Stop or die!" he yelled.

   Everybody froze, again. Bellamy noticed the look of recognition in the woman's eyes and understood. She knew what the gun was. That meant that she knew what it could do, too.

   " _He has a gun Lincoln. He's aiming at you._ " he heard the blonde tell the other guy, but he couldn't make out what that meant. He saw, anyway, that the blonde had raised her hands in surrender. The big guy released some of the pressure he was putting on Jasper and glanced at the girl, who only nodded. Bellamy saw the look they were exchanging. Fuck she wasn't surrendering. The two grounders were about to jump at him at the same moment, ready to kill him one way or another, when the man dropped on the ground, his body limp, making the blonde stop as well, having lost her back up.

   Bellamy lifted his eyes and saw Murphy, his face and chest covered in blood, standing next to Jasper with the boy's steel hose held in his hands. "Told you you shouldn't have checked her out."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   Wells was sat with Raven, helping her with the radio - he was merely passing her the pieces she needed - when a commotion outside the Dropship stole their attention. A second later, they herd Bellamy's voice yelling at everyone to get out of his fucking way.

   "What happened? Did they find Octavia?" Wells asked to a delinquent, watching side by side with Raven what remained of the search party enter the camp.

   "Yes, but something's wrong, I think." a tall guy said.

   Raven was clearly confused, but then she saw Finn unconscious with a knife in his chest and ran to him with a panicked expression on her face. She wanted to ask Bellamy how that had happened, but the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth.

   A second later, Wells was next to her. "Bellamy, what...?" the boy trailed off when he saw Finn's current estate. "Take him to the Dropship. Raven you have to fix the radio, Abby's a doctor. She can help us."

   The brunette girl nodded, and wordlessly started to turn away to head back to the Dropship, the panic still visible in her eyes. She stopped and turned back when she got a glimpse of other two figures being dragged into the camp, their hands tied behind their back. Two grounders, a blonde girl, fierce and proud, and a muscly man with dark skin.

   "Hey! That's the girl who helped me when I arrived!"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know very little of medicine and all so Clarke's healing methods are probably a little weird.
> 
> Let me know what you think :)
> 
> Also: do you want the little war of season one or some sort of truce?
> 
> Next Chapter: Will Finn survive? And how is Anya going to react when se sees that her Little Star is missing?


	9. Bitch, You Speak English!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lincoln are prisoners and decide to buy some time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here for you chapter 9!  
> Trigedasleng is in italics and voices via radio are like this: *...*
> 
> Warning: Torture towards the end of the chapter, if it may trigged you, stop reading when you see: **The Dropship
> 
> Enjoy!

 

   "This is Raven Reyes calling Ark Station. Come in Ark Station."

   A loud thunder interrupted the girl's desperate tentatives to contact the Ark, if only for a moment. The brunette turned her head to look out of the Dropship, where the rain was pouring violently and the wind was threatening to dismantle the makeshift tents. She turned back towards the radio and resumed her job.

   "This is Raven Reyes calling Ark Station. Come in Ark Station. Please, please. Can anybody hear me?!"

 

    _The Ark_

 

   "What was that?" one of the counselors asked, when he heard radio emit a weird crack.

   "Never mind." Kane answered, brushing him off with the wave of a hand. Then he looked back at Abby and Jake, standing on their feet in front of them. "It was argued, convincingly, that both your expertise is still required."

   Jake squeezed his wife's hand, relieved that both of them were going to live another day. Things were going to be difficult now, though, since Abby was removed from the council. "We need to talk about those lights." The woman said.

   Jaha shook his head. "No, we don't."

   "What? But I saw them too, we can't ignore what they mean." Jake snapped at his hold friend, trying to ignore the weird sounds coming from the radio.

   "We don't know what they mean."

   The doctor scoffed, incredulous. "They mean that there is still somebody alive on earth. That our children might still be alive!" she blurted out, her hand squeezing tightly her husband's one.

   Kane huffed quietly, slightly shaking his head. "More false hope."

   The radio emitted a louder noise this time, causing various members of the council to look at it warily. "There it is again." one of them said. Abby and Kane were about to start arguing again, but then everybody stopped when an actual voice came out of the radio. *" _Calling... Ark... Stat- Could- The Ark Station_."*

   "Raven." Jake whispered, surprised. "She's still alive!" Abby said, overjoyed.

   *" _Are you th-re? Please co- in. Can you he-r me?_ "*

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Look, I don't give a shit if Raven says that blondie over there helped her. She's not one of us, we can't trust her."

   "Bell, please. She helped me too. And the man, he saved my life!" Octavia snapped at her brother.

   He had told a bunch of delinquents to tie the two grounders up in the third level of the Dropship, no matter what she would tell him. He was set on keeping them hostages, and he wouldn't change his mind.

   "Guys!" Wells voice interrupted their argument, coming from the lower level. "We did it, Raven contacted the Ark!"

 

  ///

 

   "Abby? Can you hear me?" Wells said in the mic. "We need your help."

   *" _I'm here._ "* the doctor voice answered from the radio. *" _What -pened?_ "*

   "Finn Collins, a grounder stabbed him in the ribcage." Wells hurried to tell her.

   *" _A gro-der? Do you -ean that-_ "*

   "Yes, there are people on the earth and it's survivable, but we don't have time for this!" the boy snapped, letting his nerves control him only for a moment. "We need your help."

   *" _You're right. Is there so-one who has even a basic -owledge of medicine there? This is gonna be real- risky, anyone who is inexperienced shouldn't do it._ "* the doctor voice cracked a bit, the storm disrupting the signal for a moment.

   Wells started saying: "No, we don't know anything about-" but he was interrupted when Raven snatched the mic from his hand, giving her own answer.

   "There is someone. Only problem is, she's a grounder."

 

  ///

 

   Clarke stood there, her wrists held up high and tied, making it extremely difficult for her to move. Lincoln wasn't in better conditions. The blonde glared at him for a second, then whispered: " _If we ever get out of here, I'm gonna kill you._ "

   " _I don't think you're the only one who wants to kill me._ " he murmured back at her, nodding in the skaikru direction.

   " _I'm not dying here. Fuck no._ " Clarke muttered angrily, testing the resistance of the ropes they had used to tie her up. Shit, they were _resistant_.

   " _Your nomon will come for you._ " her friend said, still whispering so that the skaikru wouldn't hear them.

   The blonde shook her head slightly. " _She can't with this storm, and she knows it. She'll wait until it's passed, and we can't go anywhere before that, either._ "

   " _We don't have that much time._ " He was right, and she knew it. Alright, so they just had to find a solution, quickly if possible.

   " _We need to buy some._ " she murmured to her friend, exchanging a glance with him. The both knew it, they needed to do anything in their power to stay alive long enough for their people to rescue them. Or for themselves to escape.

   Right then, Wells and Raven ran into the room. The girl started talking hurriedly. "Abby's gonna help us with Finn, but we need the blonde."

   Bellamy snorted, getting up from where he was crouched to rummage in their bags. "We're past that, Raven. She's not going anywhere." he said.

   "You don't understand!" the brunette yelled. "Abby said that it has to be done by someone with a basic medical expertise. She's the only one here who can do it, so fuck off!"

   "She's not one of us! We can't trust her!"

   "He's right." the boy Clarke had hit back in the cave, Murphy, spoke. "She has a bitch-ass kick, I don't recommend it."

   " _Lincoln._ " she whispered while the others were arguing. " _Your knife. Did you apply poison to it?_ " The man only nodded, subtly. " _Which one?_ " Clarke asked.

   " _Yellow Snake._ " he answered, staring at her with worried eyes.

   The blonde smirked. " _It takes hours to kill._ " she muttered to herself.

   " _Why do you ask?_ " Lincoln asked, fidgeting.

   "Hey!" Clarke called out to the skaikru, that turned to look at her with shocked expressions. "I think I can help you."

   " _Clarke, what are you doing?!_ " the other grounder whisper-shouted at her, his eyes wide.

   She shot a glance at him, trying to be subtle, and murmured: " _Buying some time._ "

 

    _TonDC_

 

   Anya entered the village soaked to the bones and desperate. She dismounted, brought her horse to the stables and then ran to her tent. "Clarke!?" she yelled, "Clarke are you here!?" nobody answered. "Fuck!"

   The general ran back out, not giving a shit about the pouring rain and the thunderstorm. She went as fast as she could to Costia's temporary tent, and entered without nocking. "Have you seen Clarke?!" she nearly yelled at the girl, who stared at her startled.

   "I thought she was with Lincoln." the young healer said, getting on her feet. "Why, what happened?"

   Anya sniffled, on the verge of tears. "When the storm came I went to the cave, I was worried. But they- they weren't there and I found some blood and... and the rain has covered the traces. I don't know where she is." the general brought her hand to her drenched hair and tried to calm her breath. "I'll go ask Indra."

   "I'll go with you." Costia said, grabbing her coat and following the woman out her tent and into the rain.

   They didn't find Indra in her tent, but in the medical, talking with Nyko. They barged in in pure Anya style and the dirty-blonde haired general started asking questions talking so fast that the others couldn't understand a word she was saying. At the end, Costia did the talking for her while she paced wildly back and forth.

   "Clarke and Lincoln are missing, they're not in the cave and we can't find them anywhere." the girl explained hurriedly, worried about her friends.

   "I haven't seen any of them since yesterday." Indra answered, looking preoccupied, glancing at Nyko, who only shook his head.

   "FUCK! Not again!" Anya wiped her eyes angrily, never stopping her pacing.

   Nyko went towards her and made her stop with his hands on her shoulders. He watched her square in the eyes and talked to her in his quiet voice: "We will find her. She'll be ok. But now, we have to send the messengers to Lexa, before the storm makes it impossible to leave the village. And then, we'll find out where she is, and everything will be alright." the woman nodded, quietly, using her trembling hand to brush her nose. Nyko continued: "But you have to be in your right mind to do all of that. Ok?"

   "Ok." Anya took a shaky breath and nodded to herself. "Ok. Right. I... I'll go wake the messengers." Without another word, the general left the tent, leaving the other three surrounded by a worried silence.

   "I hope, for the sake of everyone, that Clarke is alive." Indra said, with her deep voice. "Because if she isn't, we'll have two big problems to face."

   The two healers exchanged a knowing look. The both were well aware of who the dark-skinned general was talking about. Anya and Lexa were the two big problems, and none of them wanted to face them if Clarke was dead.

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Bitch, you actually speak english!" Raven blurted out, regretting it the second the words left her mouth.

   "Yes." Clarke said, the language leaving a weird taste on her tongue after years of almost not using it. "I do."

   "How." Bellamy said, looking at her suspiciously. "Does he speak english, too?" he asked, nodding towards Lincoln.

   Clarke could feel her friend's eyes on her as she threw him a glance that said 'humor me, bro' and he nodded subtly. "No, he doesn't. Only me." she said.

   "Don't make me say it again. HOW." the black haired guy repeated, stressing the last word.

   "Because," the blonde answered, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "it's my mother language. I learned it when I was a child."

    _Good Clarke. Make it last, buy time. Time, time, time..._

   Another boy chimed in. It was Wells. "And where did you learn it?"

    _Alright, let's make it good._ "Up there in the space." If she wasn't so worried that they were going to kill her and Lincoln, she would have laughed at the bewildered expressions on their faces. "My name is Clarke Griffin." she told them. "I was born on the Ark."

 

  ///

 

    _What. The. Fuck._

   That was all Wells and Raven could think about. Clarke fucking Griffin. Right there in front of them, alive and talking. _Oh, Abby's gonna flip,_ the brunette thought.

   "How can we know it you're telling the truth?" Bellamy asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

   The blonde rolled her eyes, huffing. "Jake and Abby Griffin were my parents, I fell with a piece of the ship when I was eight, can we go now?" she blurted out, staring at them. "Didn't you need help with that boy?"

   "Shit, Finn!" Raven snapped, turning back and running to the first level of the ship, worried sick.

   "Wait, I still don't trust you." Bellamy told her, his hand placed on the gun.

   "Bellamy," Wells chimed in, then, resting a hand on the boy's arm, getting his attention. "we need her help. She already helped Raven and Octavia. Maybe she doesn't want to do anything bad." he did his best to convey as much sincerity on his words as he could. "She is one of us. Or at least she was. It has to count something."

 

  ///

 

   Clarke and Lincoln observed the dark skinned boy while he talked quietly to the other guy, convincong him to let her help the injured boy.

   " _Clarke, this is dangerous._ " Lincoln murmured.

   " _I know._ "

   " _What are you trying to obtain?_ "

   " _Time._ " she glanced at him for a brief moment. " _We need to be alive when our people come to get us. Two of them already think I can be trusted, if they think I'm also one of them, maybe we can get out of this situation alive._ " she went quiet when the two guys stopped talking.

   "Alright, you can go. But if you do something I don't like, you come back here and this time I won't untie you." Bellamy told her, trying to scare her. "Understood?" The blonde nodded, trying to appear a meek little girl. As if they were ever gonna believe it.

 

    _The Ark_

 

   "Raven, are you there?" Abby asked to the radio. "Raven?! We need to hurry." she glanced at Jackson, but before he could say anything they heard a weird noise come out of the device and then the girl's voice saying:

   *" _I'm here. Hum, we kinda found her._ "*

   Abby sighed, relieved. "The grounder? Is she willing to help you?" the woman asked, urgently.

   *" _Yeah, no, yes I mean..._ "* Abby heard the girl fidget and curse on the other side of the radio. *" _Listen, it's -ore than that. She said things..._ "*

   "What things?" the doctor asked, worried.

   *" _Uh, that... that her -me's Clarke Griffin and she was born -the Ark._ "*

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Abby?" Raven asked into the mic. "You ok, there?"

   *" _I... I... Yes._ "* the woman's voice cracked a bit, sounding oddly wet. *" _Are you -ure it's her?_ "*

   The brunette nodded dumbly, before remembering that the doctor couldn't see her. "She... She has Jake's eyes." The girl heard a gasp coming from the radio, but didn't comment on it. After a second she heard footsteps coming down from the upper level and told Abby to wait.

   "Ok, where is he?" the grounder - Clarke - asked. Wells guided her to the wounded boy, still not quite believing that the scary woman next to him was actually his former best friend. The blonde studied him for a few seconds, then asked: "Alright, you said you have someone who could help?"

   "Right here." Raven raised the volume of the radio and then said into the mic: "Abby, she's here."

 

    _The Ark_

 

   Abby's heart skipped a beat when she heard Raven say those words. She was so nervous. Jackson had gone to call Jake, but they weren't back yet, and she didn't really know what to say. Luckily for her, the two men arrived a second later.

   "Is it true?" Jake asked right away, stopping by the woman's side.

   "Yes." she whispered. "She's alive."

   *" _Hey! Is th- someo- there? We should get sta-ed, that boy's not gon- last long._ "* a foreign voice reached them from the radio, a little disrupted. *" _They sa-d you can hel- with him. Th-n?_ "*

   "Clarke? Is that you?" Abby's voice trembled when she asked.

   *" _Yea- how do yo- kn-w my name? Lis-n we do-t have ti-e for this, he has a kn-f- in hi- rib-ge._ "* the voice answered, growing more disturbed by the seconds.

   "Clarke?" Jake called. "Clarke, can you still hear us?"

   "Clarke?" Abby tried to understand something of the mess coming out of the radio, but it was impossible. "Clarke!"

   They heard Jackson calling out for them and shifted their attention to him. "They say there's a storm right above them, it's disrupting the signal." the young man said. "We have to wait until it's gone."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Wow, this thing sucks." Clarke muttered when the signal went off.

   "It's the storm's fault, it's s disturbing the signal." Raven explained, putting down the mic and going to stand next to Finn's unconscious body.

   "Fine." the blonde said. "Let's do this my way, then."

 

***

 

   Later on, Octavia had brought her what she needed to clean her hands and the wound, a liquid they had called Moonshine. Clarke sniffed it and almost gagged. "You drink this shit?" she asked rhetorically, not really expecting an answer. _Damn, it could kill a little pauna._

   "It's not that bad when you're already drunk." the black-haired girl said with a shrug.

   With a slight shake of her head Clarke asked Wells to remove the cloth from the boy's injury, while she poured the liquor on her hands. When the cloth had been removed she took a look at the wound. If she remembered correctly, the knife was long enough to almost poke the boy's lung, but she couldn't see any sign of a pulmonary damage, so he was lucky as fuck. The blonde poured a few drops the liquid on the wound and then grabbed the hilt carefully.

   "Wait!" Raven and Wells yelled at the same time.

   "What?" she asked, only slightly annoyed.

   "Are you sure that's the right thing to do?" the boy asked, preoccupied. "Shouldn't you wait for Abby?"

   Clarke scoffed and resumed her work, trying to get a firm hold on the hilt. " _Please_. I'm a healer, I've extracted more knives than you have seen. Actually, I'll need a heated blade when I take this out."

   "What?" Raven asked.

   She rolled her eyes. "A blade, you put it in the fire and when it's hot you bring it to me."

   "Oh."

   "We don't have fires inside the Dropship." Octavia made them notice. "But I can get you something else to stitch him up."

   Clarke sighed heavily. "Whatever, as long as I have something to close up the wound when I'm done."

   It took the girl ten minutes to find the necessary, but then she got back down with phylum and a little metal sliver that they said she could use as a needle. Weird enough. Clarke was about to start when an idea popped up in her mind. _Ok, I'm just mean_ , she thought.

   "What are you doing?" Raven asked, one step away from panicking. "Why did you stop, what's wrong?"

   The blonde bit her bottom lip, trying to appear a worried. She exhaled shakily - she was _such_ a great actress - and then asked: "How do I know that, after I help your friend, that boy up there won't kill us?"

   She saw Wells run a hand over his head, looking worried - for real - and then glance at Octavia. "We'll go talk to him. Don't worry."

   "Yeah." the small girl nodded convincingly. "We'll make him see that you're one of us."

 

  ///

 

   In the third level of the Dropship, Bellamy was still trying to make the tall grounder speak, but he was as silent as a rock. Maybe that girl, Clarke - if that was even her real name - was being honest and that man just couldn't understand him. But he wanted to be sure.

   "I'll ask you again. How many of you there are out there?" no answer. "Is there someone else who can speak english?" still no answer. "Is her name really Clarke Griffin?" no goddamn answer. He was losing his patience. "Say something! Why did your people start to kill us?"

   The grounder just stared at him, his face blank, not betraying any kind of emotion. He stayed silent, looking almost bored.

   "Oh, come on Bellamy." Murphy snapped at one point, his nose still incredibly sore. "He won't tell us anything."

   "But he has to know something!" he ran a hand in his curly black hair and huffed, frustrated. "He has to."

   "Fine, keep talking to the mute grounder, then. I'm going to get a drink." the slim boy got up and started heading down, bumping into someone while descending the stairs. "You got visitors, by the way."

   Bellamy turned away from the grounder just when his sister and Wells entered the small room. "What now?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

   "Bell, listen to me, ok?" Octavia said, throwing a swift look at the grounder. "That girl, Clarke, she wants to know if you plan to kill them."

   A heavy silence fell around them, weighing on their shoulders like a drenched cloak. The Blakes were staring at each other, studying each other's eyes. "Bell." the girl murmured, when she didn't receive an answer. "Seriously."

   "What do you want me to say?" her brother blurted out. "O. I don't want to kill them, ok? I don't. But we're at war, now. We can't just let them go." he tried to reason.

   "Look, Bellamy." Wells chimed in when he heard Octavia scoff. "We don't know if we're at war, yet."

   "They attacked us!" he yelled. "They almost killed Jasper! They did kill Mbege, and Diggs, and Roma! You can't say we're not at war yet!"

   "Yes, I can!" Wells yelled back, starting to loose his temper. "I can! They killed a few of us, I know! But each time that happened, we had crossed a boundary. _Each. Time._ "

   "Ah, so what? It's our fault now?!" Bellamy snarled at him, his nostrils flaring.

   "No. That's not what I meant. Ok?" the dark skinned boy answered, lowering his voice.

   "Bell, please." Octavia muttered, stepping closer to her brother. "He saved my life. That girl down there? She fixed my leg. Please, they don't want to hurt us." she pleaded, looking at him with wide eyes. "Please."

   The big guy just sighed, his shoulders slumping down. He turned his back to them and crouched near the grounders bags, pulling out from one of them a small diary. He showed it to them, and Wells missed the way the grounder's eyes widened in fear and embarrassment. Octavia, anyway, didn't.

   "Your precious grounder," Bellamy snarled. "was watching us. _Counting_ , us." he shoved the diary in their faces, opened at the page of a drawing that was clearly representing Octavia. "Maybe he 'saved you' because he fancied you. I don't care. He's not going anywhere, and when blondie down there has finished messing with Finn, she comes back here, tied up, and then I'll start asking her the same things. Is that clear?"

 

    _The Ark_

 

   "What's happening?" Jake asked Kane, when he and his wife reached the large room where Jaha had called the assembly. "What is he doing?"

   "Do we have news from the kids? Did they fix the radio?" Abby added, trying to see past the crowd of people gathered on the hall.

   "I think he wants to divulge classified informations. People were talking, they're... uh... _discontent_ , because of the culling." Markus answered, his voice weird. When the couple turned to really look at him for the first time that day, they saw the black circles under his eyes and his disheveled hair. It looked like he had tried to make himself presentable, but didn't succeed. The doctor and the engineer shared a worried look, but decided not to comment.

   Suddenly, Jaha's deep voice interrupted their train of thoughts and stole everyone's attention. They observed him telling everyone that all the classified informations they wanted were now public, and that earth was survivable. None of them was really surprised when a few persons started questioning him about the culling. What did surprise them, anyway, was the split decision of their beloved - so to say - chancellor to give the spot of counselor to Diana Sidney. God, Abby never trusted that woman, and Jake always said she was creepily kind.

   None of them noticed that weird look that the new counselor exchanged with Cuyler Ridley, the man who had recently lost his wife in said culling. Creepy, indeed.

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   One of us _. One of us_ , she said.

   Clarke bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from telling that girl to go talk shit to someone else because she wasn't one of them. But she had a plan, and she needed to follow it. The blonde inhaled deeply, calming herself down. She needed to play it cool if she wanted to get them out of that camp alive. She had to hold back a triumphant smirk when she heard the skaikru yell at each other in the third level. She knew that it was a very mean thing to do, to use her former best friend to distract the others with pointless fights, but oh well. She needed them to be distracted so they wouldn't focus on them.

   "Hey." her head snapped up at the sound of Raven's voice. "We got what we need, shouldn't we get started? He could die."

   Clarke nodded. "Alright. Be ready when I pull it out, you pour that Moonshine over the wound and then I close it." the brunette nodded, her lips strained. "Ready?"

   "No." Raven downed a big gulp of the alcohol in her hand and shuddered with a grimace. "Ok, now I'm ready."

   "Ok." Clarke grabbed firmly the hilt of the knife, took a steeling breath, and then surely pulled it out. Red blood poured out of the deep wound, and Raven hurried to wash it away with the Moonshine. "Not too much." Clarke reminded her.

   She took the makeshift needle and phylum and asked the girl to step away. She stared at it weirdly for a second, then started poking the boy's skin with it, sewing the wound closed. After only a few seconds, though, the body under her hands squirmed. She lifted her eyes to look at him in the face. His eyes were closed, but he was obviously regaining consciousness.

   "Hey Raven. He's waking up." she called, and an instant later the girl was caressing the boy's sweaty forehead. Clarke knitted her eyebrows when she noticed the droplets of sweat on the guy's skin. She recognized the signs of the first effects of the Yellow Snake's poison. She needed to hurry. "Hold him still, please." she told Raven.

   The brunette did as she said and when she finished a new stitch, the boy woke up with a start and a pained grunt. "Hey, hey Finn! Don't move, she'll fix you." Raven told him, her eyes suddenly soft.

   Finn looked around, confused, and his eyes widened when she saw Clarke. "You?" he whispered. "Who are you?"

   "Clarke Griffin." she simply answered. "If you plan on doing something weird, I suggest you wait until I'm done closing your wound. Just saying." she muttered, not really interested. It's not like she would give a damn if he tore open his stitches, again. That would just make her lose some time.

   He stayed silent, staring at her with his brown eyes, almost making her uncomfortable. At the end, Raven asked: "Why are you helping us?"

    _Come up with something, Clarke. Quick._ "I'm a healer. I'm just doing job." No, I'm not. I'm just buying time so my nomom can get here and kick your sorry asses. Watch that, bitches.

   "Are you really Clarke Griffin?" Finn asked, suddenly, his voice strained from them pain. The blonde poked his skin again with the needle and he whimpered pitifully.

   "Yes." No, instead. I'm Clarke kom Trikru. Clarke Griffin died ten years ago.

   "We thought- ah!" he grunted in pain and panted slightly. "We thought you were dead."

   "Hmm." Spirits, why won't he stop staring? It's creepy. "Done. Just bandage it with a clean cloth and you're good." she lied. She cut the phylum with her teeth and got up, but a hand closing around her wrist stopped her. She looked down, only to see Finn still staring at her with wide eyes.

   "Thank you." he murmured.

 

***

 

   Not even two minutes later, she was back to level three, her wrists tied up, and that annoying guy asking question after question. Not like she had expected anything different. They were alone with Bellamy and Octavia, since Wells had gone checking on some girl named Charlotte and Raven was still with Finn. While they waited for the poison to work its magic, Clarke and Lincoln had opted for the 'silence drill'. After half an hour of questions, they still hadn't uttered a single word. It was driving the skaikru insane.

   "You were talking earlier! I know you understand me." Bellamy snarled in Clarke's face, trying to get her to answer. "If you're really one of us then tell me, how many of you there are out there?"

   She didn't say anything, only causing the boy to get angrier. He was about to say something, when a scream reached them from the first level. The boy told his sister to keep an eye on them and exited the room.

 

    _The Ark_

 

   *" _Abby! Abby if yo-re there, p-ase answer me!_ "*

   "Abby! We hear them again!" Jackson called her, and both she and Jake skipped to reach the radio.

   The doctor grabbed the mic with trembling hands. "Wells? Can you hear me?"

   *" _YES! Yes, t-nk God! Abby, Finn's se-zing, he's feverish!_ "*

   She gasped, shocked, but then quickly recovered and went into full doctor mode. "You have to make sure he doesn't choke, turn him to the side! And check how he's breathing!" she heard the boy's voice yell at someone to calm down and turn him to the side, then several noises.

   *" _Ok. Ok he's... bet-r now. St-l re-ly hot, th-gh._ "*

   She felt, more than hear, Jake whisper a: "Thank God!" against her ear, gripping her shoulder. She took a deep sigh. "Has... has Clarke pulled the knife out, yet?" she asked.

   *" _She... Yes. And she sti-ed him up, t-o._ "*

   Abby ran a hand through her hair, before grasping Jake's one, resting on her shoulder, and squeezing it. "It's poisoning. Probably something she used wasn't clean enough."

   *" _They used alc-ol to steri-ze everything._ "*

   She was about to answer when a weird noise came from the radio, and then they heard Wells voice curse under his breath. "Wells? Is Clarke still there with you?" Abby asked, hope clear in her voice. Jake's hand squeezed a little harder.

   *" _Oh, uh... she's up with Bel-my. He... he tied her up with the ot-r gro-er._ "*

   "What?!" both Abby and Jake snapped at the boy's words.

   *" _Look, things here a-n't exactly ideal, r-ht now, ok? I... I ha- to go._ "*

   "What? No! Wells! No!"

 

   ** _The Dropship_

 

   " _The poison is probably working._ " Lincoln murmured.

   The blonde nodded. " _He was already sweating when I closed his wound. I bet he's having the 'muscle twitch' right now._ "

   After less than two minutes the two boys were back, Bellamy angrier than before. "Poison!" he yelled. "You knew about this!"

   "Bell, what are you talking about?" Octavia asked, finally averting her gaze from Lincoln.

   "The knife was poisoned!"

   Wells chimed in, trying to calm him down. "Don't do anything stupid, ok? We can talk to them."

   "We'll see about that." the guy turned and grabbed a seatbelt, that they had tore out from the Dropship, and wrapped one end around his right hand. Then he looked at Clarke. "Tell me where you keep the antidote."

   The girl shared a look with Lincoln, to make sure that he was ready. When he nodded, she turned back to face the skaikru. "I don't know what you're talking about."

   "Alright. I didn't want this, but you left me no choice." with that, he tightened his grip on the belt and used it to whip Lincoln, making him grunt in pain.

   "Bellamy what are you doing?!" the other two yelled at him, but he didn't pay attention to them.

   "Where do you keep the antidote." he said, his eyes fixated on Clarke. When she didn't answer, he whipped Lincoln, again, with more force. The man's skin was starting to bleed, and his breath was a little ragged.

   She looked at him. " _Are you sure you can handle this?_ "

   " _Yes._ "

   "Hey! What did you tell him?!"

   "Please Bellamy, stop!" Octavia screamed, grabbing his harm.

   "Go away, O! You don't have to see this." he turned toward them, and after giving them both a warning look, he started whipping Lincoln with the seatbelt, each strike stronger that the former, but both grounders stayed silent. When that didn't work, the boy grabbed a spike and asked them again.

   "Bellamy! Stop, ok, this is insane!"

   When they remain mute, the boy drove the spike right through Lincoln's hand. Immediately, blood poured out if the wound and the man let out a pained groan, his right arm trembling.

   " _Hey! Are you sure?_ " Clarke asked him urgently, not wanting to lead more pain to her friend by remaining silent.

   He nodded, raising his head. " _Yes, I can handle this._ "

   Wells got a hold of Bellamy's wrist and held it tight, preventing him from striking again. The other boy was about to shrug him off, when Raven appeared in the room from the hatch, talking fastly. "He had stopped breathing, he's ok now but we need the antidote."

   "Ask them!" Bellamy snapped, pointing towards the two grounders.

 

  ///

 

   Octavia was right there, but it was like she wasn't. Nobody was paying attention to her. She had to stop them, she just had to. Those two persons had helped her and Raven, but her brother seemed to have forgotten that. The others were still screaming in each other's faces when her eyes fell on the open diary. Her own face stared at her from the pages. She had to be crazy, yet something was telling her: _this will work_. Octavia looked around the room to find the poisoned knife. When she spotted it resting on a seat, forgotten, she hurried to grab it.

    _Alright_ , she told herself, _time to get this show on the road_.

   "HEY!" she yelled, so loudly that everyone in the room shut their mouth immediately, turning towards her. The moment their attention was on her, she glanced at the grounder. His eyes were wide and scared. "He won't let me die."

   Without waiting another second, the girl caressed the skin on her forearm with the poisoned blade.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know it was kinda mean to end it like that. Feel free to yell at me.  
> Really hope you liked it, let me know what you think, and I'm always open for suggestions!
> 
> Next Chapter: Lexa finds out Clarke's missing, and Clarke has a chat with someone. Guess who? ;)


	10. Ready My Horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa finds out, Clarke talks to her parents and Finn steps up his game. Will Clarke fall for it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks for all the support, it's really important to me! For those who are still interested in this story, here is chapter 10!
> 
> Note: Finn's behaviour may seem a little not-realistic, but I needed his obsession for Clarke to move faster than in the show, so I'm sorry if it results a little forced.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes, they're all mine, and enjoy!

 

   "Heda, messengers from TonDC."

   Lexa raised her eyes from the book she was pretending to be reading - her mind just wasn't in it - and told the guard to let them pass. The two messengers entered her chambers and she frowned. They were two girls, young and slim, and so obviously tired, like they hadn't slept for too long. They were barely keeping their eyes open, waving slightly on their feet.

   "What is it?" the commander asked, getting up from the couch, somehow sensing the bad news.

   The two messengers exchanged a look, as if to say: 'you tell her', 'no, you', then the older one sighed and lowered her head, showing respect. "Heda, general Anya kom Trikru ordered us to come tell you that- that her daughter Clarke is missing, together with a scout. There are no traces of them." the woman said, her voice wavering, clearly terrified that her commander would have killed her for bringing such a new. After all, it was well known that the last time Clarke went missing a man had been thrown off the tower.

   If the two messengers had had their heads up, though, they would have seen the commander's hands shake with both fear and rage, and her eyes cloud with a swirling storm of powerful emotions. She clenched her jaw and her shaking hands closed into fists, her nails leaving red marks on her skin. Lexa swallowed the lump in her throat and then asked, with the stronger voice she could muster at the moment: "When did this happen?"

   The younger girl answered right away, not wanting to anger the commander. "Two days ago, before the storm's beginning."

   Lexa dismissed the scouts, sending them to get some sleep, and started pacing in her chambers. Two days. Clarke was missing since two days, and she didn't knew. She should have been there, with her. She should have followed her the day she had left for TonDC. A raging desperation filled her chest, making it tighten painfully, causing tears to spill from her eyes. She wiped them away angrily, sniffling, her rushing heart too pained to bear it. After the despair, came the wrath. Who dared touch her Clarke, her love, her best friend? Was it the skaikru? Was it someone that wanted her to wipe the sky people out? Had Clarke simply been surprised by the storm while walking in the woods? Either way, whoever it was, _whatever_ it was, they were gonna pay. And she was gonna get her Clarke back no matter the cost, for her life would have been pointless, a dark maze with no way out without her. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

   Lexa strode angrily towards the door and opened it, startling her guards. Without losing any time, she walked past them and through the hallways. Whenever a guard or an ambassador would meet her in her way through the tower, they would lower their heads and disappear, knowing that when she had that look in her eyes, it was better for them to just step away. While she was walking through the hallways she considered taking a contingent with her, but then she remembered that Anya’s army was big enough, so she refrained.

   The moment she found a servant she stopped him and said: "Ready my horse, I'm leaving for TonDC."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Octavia, what are you doing?!"

   Clarke saw the young sky girl cut her own skin with the poisoned knife and held back a gasp. What was she doing? Beside her, Lincoln let out a low whine and tried to wriggle out of the rope that held his wrists.

   " _What are you doing?_ " asked Clarke in a murmur.

   She didn't get an answer, Lincoln was too preoccupied watching Octavia kneel on the floor with the knife in her hand. She laid the vials that were in Lincoln's bag just in front of him, and used the blade to point at them. "Please. Which one?" the girl asked.

   "O, wai-" Bellamy started, trying to grab her arm.

   She shrugged him off with a glare. "Back off, Bell."

   " _Lincoln._ " Clarke whispered, her voice a little hoarse. " _What...?_ "

   " _I can't let her die, Clarke._ " the man muttered, his mouth dry. It had been too long since they last drank. He shook slightly his head, blinking the blood away from his eyes. " _I can't. Please._ "

   Obviously Clarke know what he was pleading for. Understanding. He was pleading her to understand that he couldn't bring himself to let that girl die, the girl he had taken a liking on. The real question now was: could she?

   Her eyes met Octavia's ones. "Please. I know you understand me. Please."

   Clarke swallowed painfully - yes, definitely too long - and tried to wet her lips. She looked at her friend and sighed. " _Which one?_ "

   " _The red one._ "

 

***

 

   After a while the night was slowly wrapping it's dark, heavy blanket all around the camp. Most of the delinquents were already asleep, the storm had subsided a bit and the antidote had worked it's magic. Everything was quiet, except for the radio that kept whispering the most puzzling things, still slightly disturbed. Finn was awake. He heard Raven and Wells talking quietly in a corner and strained his ears, trying to listen.

   "How can we be sure? She could be lying just to gain our trust." Wells' voice said.

   "I'm not sure, ok? But... have you seen her eyes? They're just like Jake's. Plus, Abby told me that she had a beauty mark above her lip."

   "Raven, beauty marks are common. We're still not sure."

   "I know, ok? I know." Raven whispered. "Still, it doesn't cancel the fact that she helped us. It has to count something."

   "And it does." Finn heard the boy sigh heavily. "Look, I think she is the real Clarke, too. But we should wait."

   "Wait for what?"

   "If you could hook a screen up to the radio, we could see our people on the Ark."

   Raven took a second to answer, making Finn furrow his brows in concentration. He didn't want to miss a word, they were talking about the blonde. "We could make them see Clarke. Abby and Jake would recognize her!" the girl whisper-shouted. "You're a genius!"

   Wells chuckled lowly. "Yes, but if they recognize her, we'll have a bigger problem."

   "Being?"

   "What do we do if she's really Clarke? She's our prisoner, now."

   "We let her go. We shouldn't have made her a prisoner in the first place." Raven whispered angrily.

   "And you think that Bellamy will agree with that?" Finn held his breath, waiting for Raven to answer. The girl was taking her time and he couldn't see her. At the end, he heard the girl take a deep breath, and then another person chimed in.

   "We won't tell him." Octavia said.

 

***

 

   Wells decided to go to sleep after their little talk. He agreed with Raven and Octavia, they shouldn't have taken the two grounders prisoners to begin with, and the torture had been an horrible mistake. They weren't like that. Their plan to sneak them out was dangerous though, and it could have easily led to a war, a real one. He decided then and there, on his way to his 'bed', that he would have convinced the grounders - Clarke - to help them avoid a war.

   He reached his tent and sighed, eager to finally get some sleep. He still couldn't believe that his childhood best friend was now a grown-up badass warrior. He had seen Murphy's face, and he had seen his grimace when he would get up from a seat. She had kicked his ass. That thought made him smile, oddly enough, but he knew that Clarke had that in herself even when she was just a child. She was just a force of nature, and for the little he had seen of her today, she hadn't lost it. If she was really Clarke. But of course she was. Wells just wanted a confirmation, but he could feel it. That was her.

   When he entered his tent he was greeted by the sight of a sleeping Charlotte, wrapped up in his blanket. Wells smiled when the little girl turned on her side, mumbling something in her sleep. The boy slipped under the blanket and immediately he felt the child hug his torso, burying her face in his neck and closing her fists around his shirt. Wells held the her with a arm around her shoulders, and sighed quietly, feeling the tiredness of the long day quickly catching up to him, dragging him into a dreamless sleep.

 

***

 

   During the night Clarke and Lincoln weren't allowed to sleep. The sky people didn't want to take risks by untying them, so while everyone was asleep, they were still on their feet, their eyes drooping and their shoulders and wrists aching for the weird position they were in. Lincoln was in an even worse estate, with blood drying on his skin where the sky boy had whipped him, and his hand still trembling because of the spike planted in it. They were both thirsty, their mouths dry, and hungry. They were fighting sleep so fiercely, that they almost didn't notice the hatch on the floor open and two small figures enter the room.

   "Here, finally." one of them whispered, closing the hatch as quietly as possible. "You do him, I take her."

   "Ok."

   A moment later Clarke saw Octavia walk swiftly towards Lincoln and Raven stop in front of her. "Hey, how do I...?" the younger girl asked Clarke, pointing at the spike still into the man's hand.

   The blonde exchanged a look with him and when he nodded, she cleared her dry throat. "Just pull it out, with force. Don't hesitate. Then pour on it some alcohol and bandage it."

   The girl nodded too and after only a few seconds, a pained grunt left Lincoln's mouth accompanied by a grimace. Raven ignored them and took a makeshift water bottle in her hands, bringing it to Clarke's lips. "It's just water."

   The blonde drank, and seriously, water had never tasted this good before. Feeling way better, already, Clarke observed the girl pass the bottle to the other one and then turn to face her again. "Ok, listen. I need to know if your people is gonna come get you soon." Raven said. Obviously, Clarke didn't answer. "I'm not here to gain information, ok? I need to know."

   The blonde stared at her blankly for a while, trying to understand if she was being honest. At the end, she just nodded.

   "Fuck." the brunette murmured, crossing her arms. "How soon?"

   Clarke swallow quietly. "As soon as the storm is gone, they'll start sending the scouts." she said, her voice strained and a little raspy.

   The sky girls widened their eyes, sharing worried glances. Octavia said in a whisper: "Too soon. We have to do it tomorrow night."

   "What will you do tomorrow night?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

   Raven looked at her in the eyes, and said: "We'll sneak you out of here."

 

    _TonDC_

 

   Anya was out of her bed before the sun could raise, and had spent way too much time staring at the sky. The storm was almost gone, only a thick rain kept falling from the grey clouds, drenching clothes and horses, but still enough for the scouts to be unable to find Clarke's traces. She had never hated the rain so much in her life.

   She was one step away from going to find her herself, when Indra noticed - damn that woman - and told her to go train in the rain with Tris. She didn't want to, she only wanted her daughter back, but driving herself crazy wasn't the solution, and she knew it. That's how she found herself soaked and sparring with her young second until mid day. They stopped to eat and then started again. Spirit, why wouldn't the damn rain stop? In a way, she was glad that the raindrops would hide the tears rolling down her cheeks, but it didn't help her case anyway.

   It was late in the afternoon, after she had sent Tris to her hut to clean up and get some rest, that she heard it. The rain had subsided a bit, and the sound of hooves on the wet ground stole the general's attention. She turned, wiping her red eyes, and faced whoever it was. The white horse stopped right in front her, behind it a small group of guards, and on top of the animal, her eyes wide and worried, and her hands clenched around the reins, her favorite person after her daughter.

   " _Lexa?_ "

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Our problem, really, is that we're gonna freeze before we starve." Wells said in the mic, staring in his father's eyes. Raven did hook the screen up to the radio, and now Wells was explaining the delinquents' situation to the Council.

   "What about the grounders? Can they provide any insight on how to survive winter?" his father asked.

   Wells shook his head. "They're not exactly... _communicative_." he answered, trying not too sound too disappointed. "But we're doing what we can."

   On the screen appeared Kane, with some sort of tablet in his hands. "According to civil defense plans for before the war, there's an old emergency aid depot not far from the landing site." he said, showing him the coordinates in the screen. "It was designed to withstand nuclear warfare, so it should be still intact."

   The boy nodded, thinking deeply. "Alright. We'll go today, then. Now I'll let the radio to the others, they'll want to see their parents."

 

***

 

   "Hey, Raven."

   The girl turned to face him and nodded a greeting. "What's up?"

   Wells stepped closer to her and murmured: "It's time. I'll bring Bellamy with me to gather supplies in a deposit, Kane gave me the coordinates." he glanced behind his back to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. "We won't be back until tomorrow."

   The brunette nodded, her hands on her hips. "So we do it tonight."

   "Right." the boy nodded to himself and took a few seep breaths, trying to find the right words. "Listen, Raven, if she- if she's really who we think she is-"

   "She _is_ , Wells." the girl affirmed.

   "Ok, but just listen." he took another steeling breath, fidgeting with a string coming out from his jacket. "I haven't talked to her, yet. I should have, I was just... I don't really know what to say. She's not the same of ten years ago, and neither am I. I don't really know her anymore." Raven nodded quietly, a silent gesture that told him she understood. "Well, before you let them go, could you, I don't know, tell her I'm sorry I didn't go to talk to her? I know she helped you and Octavia, and Finn as well, so I wanted to thank her, but..." Wells trailed off, shrugging awkwardly.

   He couldn't really explain it, she was so different from the little girl he remembered, that he had been a little lost seeing her again, like that. He knew she was the same as before, but at the same time she wasn't, and he didn't know how to talk to her. Even if he wanted to. He had missed her a lot, after all, she was his best friend.

   Raven smiled sweetly and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'll tell her. Don't worry, ok?"

   He nodded gratefully. "You're a life saver, you know?"

   "Yeah, yeah, I'm awesome. What's new?"

 

***

 

   Dax sat in front of the radio and put the headphones on, waiting for his mother to come. After a few seconds, though, a man appeared on the screen.

   "Where's my mom?"

   "Relax." Commander Shumway said. "I have a problem, and you can help me fix it. If you do, I'll make sure your mother gets a spot in the first ship we send to the ground."

   "What do I have to do?" Dax asked, confused but determined. He just wanted his mom safe and near, was it too much to ask?

   The man in the screen smirked. "Kill Bellamy Blake."

 

***

 

   Clarke was thirsty - again - and was distracting herself by straining her ears to try and understand if the rain was still falling. The thick metal of the Dropship muffled every sound, though, so she was just distracting herself without getting any useful information. Awesome.

   At some point, she wasn't sure if it was morning or afternoon anymore, a boy with dark skin and a hat on his head - Mikey? Milton? Miller! That was the name - came into the small room, looking at her and Lincoln as if they were some weird thing.

   "You." he said, nodding to Clarke. "Someone wants to talk to you from the Ark."

 

    _The Ark_

 

   "Oh, God. I can't believe... I'm so nervous."

   "Abby, calm down." Jake said, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. "There's nothing to worry about."

   The woman threw him a glance, knowing him well enough to understand that he was just as nervous as her. And it was kinda normal, they were going to talk to the daughter they thought they'd lost. Of course they were nervous. When they arrived in the Council chamber, she wasn't in front of the screen yet. They took their seats, trying to regulate their breathing and to calm their crazy-beating hearts. Then suddenly, a blonde flash appeared in the screen and an all too familiar shade of blue stared at them from the other side.

   "Clarke?" Abby whispered reverently, bringing a hand to her mouth to hide her trembling lip. Jake squeezed her other hand under the table.

   Their first thought? Their little girl was a beautiful woman, now, and that was enough to make them happy. The girl didn't answer right away, she was too concentrated in battling with the headphones, not knowing how they worked. After a minute or so, she finally put them on the right way and resumed her staring. Jake cleared his throat, and swallowed loudly. Both he and Abby wondered why did their daughter have dark circles around her eyes, as if she hadn't slept, and why her skin was so pale. Why were her wrists tied? And why did she look so... _savage?_

   "So," the man started. "you're Clarke, right?"

   The girl nodded, quietly. She stared at them intensely for a long moment, but didn’t say anything. Her silence landed like a punch in their guts, bringing tears in their eyes, bringing doubt in their minds.

   Had she forgotten them?

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   Clarke stayed there, sat on that weird chair staring at the two persons in the screen. They were so familiar, and she knew. She knew, it was right there, in the back of her mind, but she just couldn’t reach it. She watched as doubt and tears clouded their eyes, and she fought to understand this weird feeling growing in her chest. Then the woman lifted a hand to cover her mouth and Clarke's eyes followed it, resting on the thin ring at her finger.

   It felt like a hammer smashed her head without warning, and suddenly a little memory that she was sure she had lost came up in her mind out of nowhere, and she closed her eyes.

 

    _A hand with the same sing went up to hook a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, and she smiled at the woman in front of her. Long, light-brown hair framed her mother's face as she smiled at her little girl's antics. The child turned and saw a man with paint all over his face, smiling a guilty smile and fighting hard to contain his laugh._

 

   Clarke furrowed her eyebrows, squeezing her eyes shut, willing the emotions in her chest to subside, but then she made the mistake to look into the man's eyes.

 

    _That same man was there, sitting on a chair, and his eyes were so blue, just like hers, and he was so proud of his little artist. The child said: "Daddy! I wanna paint you!" and she climbed on the table to be at his eyes height._

_He smirked and held up his pinky finger. "Ok, but don't tell mommy, deal?"_

_She hooked her own pinky to the man's one. "Deal!"_

 

   Could that be? Clarke asked herself, unsure. Were they really…? Spirit, she was so confused. And happy, for she had missed them so much, and now they were there. But, could she really make room in her life for them, if their people were two steps away from war?

   "Clarke." the man whispered from the screen, making her head snap up and her eyes narrow suspiciously. "Clarke, don't you- don't you remember us?"

   The girl thought about getting up and go away without answering, but then decided against it. She was in it, now, anyway and there was no point in running away. "I... yes." she said, staring at them. "You’re... you’re Jake and Abby Griffin." They nodded hastily, a new hope shining in their eyes. She nodded to herself too. "I remembre you, you're… my parents." Kinda, if she didn’t already have a mother in TonDC. "Is that why you wanted to talk to me?" she asked.

   "Yes, we thought you were dead." the man said, a smile straining his lips. "I'm really happy we were wrong."

   Clarke found herself smiling too. There was just something about the man, something that was making her at ease, like a well known embrace. Her smile fell when she heard the woman's words.

   "Clarke... what happened to you?" she asked, finally regaining enough control over herself to speak again.

   The blonde knitted her eyebrows, not exactly sure about what the woman was asking. "What happened to me?"

   "Yes. The grounders... what did they do to you?" Abby asked with a weak voice.

   At those words, Clarke's blood turned to ice. "What did they do to me?" she said, her eyes suddenly cold. "They saved me. They gave me a home. They made me the person I am now."

   Jake sensed the panic coming out in waves from his wife and decided to take matters in his hands. "Ok, we get it. They helped you," he put a hand on his the doctor's shoulder to keep her calm. "and we are grateful for that. They clearly did an amazing job."

   Clarke observed the interaction between the two and sighed, calmer. "They sure did."

   Abby wiped her eyes with a hand and smiled. "Well, how are-" she cleared her throat, nervously. "How are things for you?"

   The blonde shrugged. She wanted to tell them something about herself, but at the same time she wasn't willing to give them information about her people. The delinquents couldn't make her talk, sure as hell those two couldn't either. She decided to tell just something, but not too much, in case it was a trap.

   "Good." she started. "I have my home and my job. Friends."

   "That's... amazing!" the woman said.

   "Yeah, it is! And what job is it that you do?" Jake asked, and the girl could tell he was honestly curious.

   Still, she wasn't going to tell them she was a flamekeeper. Let's keep it simple, she thought. "I'm a healer."

   "Oh, right." Abby said, with a smile. "You helped Finn. You saved his life."

   Not really. "Hmm." she just hummed, not sure what to say next. It was kind of awkward, to sit there in front of two persons that were her parents but at the same time... weren't. Yikes, weird.

   "Anyway, we'll be coming down soon, or at least we hope so." Jake said, an unsure smile on his lips. "Do you think that we'll find you there when the time comes?"

   Clarke stiffened at the man's question, taking a minute to answer. She didn't know what he was asking, if she was willing to meet them again, or if she would stay in the Skaikru camp. "I... I don't know." she answered honestly.

   She saw the man's eyes glisten with new tears, but he nodded nonetheless, accepting her words. Abby, anyway, didn't agree. Her eyes widened and she asked, half shocked: "Wait, what do you mean?"

   "Abby." Jake tried to calm her down, unsuccessfully.

   "No, what- why do you not know? We are you parents." she said, clearly starting to panic. Clarke raised an eyebrow, daring her to go further with her words. "We are your people! Is someone making you say that? Why wouldn't you want to stay?"

   By now, the woman was just crying desperately, clutching her husband hand in her own, still staring at Clarke. The blonde only admitted it to herself, but she was sad that Abby had to endure all that pain thinking she was dead, only to find out that she wasn't, but didn't consider her her mother anymore. It was just sad. And unfair, really.

   But things were the way the were.

 

***

 

   Octavia was just messing around, trying to steal something to eat for the two grounders, when she saw a few of the others starting to act weirdly. It happened after Wells convinced her brother to follow him in this mission to find supplies and Dax went God knows where. She had visited Lincoln - he had whispered her his name the night before, so sweet - until Miller had told her to go away. Then she had waited for everyone to be busy to start _her_ mission. But after a couple minutes, she had seen Jasper running around and screaming that the grounders were attacking them.

   "Hey, hey! Easy!" she said, grabbing his jacket to stop his crazy run. "What's the problem?"

   "They're here. The grounders. Right there." the boy said, staring at her with blown up pupils, his eyes almost black, and pointing towards the midst of the camp.

   Octavia turned to look, only half scared that they were really attacking, but nobody was there, and certainly not grounders. She faced the boy again, taking him in. "Jasper, there's no one there." she tried to tell him, but he just wouldn't listen.

   "I love you. Ok? I just wanted you to know, because we're all gonna die, now." he mumbled, eating swiftly nut after nut. "I love you. I love you."

   "You're high." she whispered to herself, after connecting the dots. "You're completely gone."

   An idea popped up in her mind, and she mentally patted herself on the back for her bright mind. She told Jasper to stay there with the anti-grounder stick - he seriously believed that. High - and then ran off to Raven's tent. God she was a genius.

 

***

 

   After their awkward - and depressing - conversation, the same boy, Miller, came to take her back to the Dropship. She groaned, knowing that she would have had to suffer the heavy stares of the delinquents once again. They were annoying, looking at her as if she was an animal in a cage, put there for them to watch. She relished in the fact that she would scare the shit out of them with her well practiced death glares. They had barely made it out the makeshift tent, that the boy with shaggy hair, Finn, appeared in front of them with a beaming smile.

   "Hey Finn." Miller said, without letting go of Clarke's arm. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

   "Yeah, well, I wanted to have a chat with my savior." the injured boy said, flashing her another smile. "Would you mind?"

   "Sure." Miller answered, letting the girl go when he saw the other boy grab her by an arm. "Shout if she does something weird."

   Walking next to her the boy never stopped smiling, in a way that most girls would have found charming, but those girls had never seen Lexa's smirk. Clarke found herself smiling too, at that thought. Spirit, the things that smirk could do to her. Unfortunately for her, though, Finn saw her smile and thought it was directed to him, so he decided to start talking.

   "So, I really want to thank you for saving me." he said, still smiling.

   Gods, he was walking slowly on purpose, wasn't he? Why her. "It wasn't just me, but ok." Clarke answered, already bored. At least Miller had repressed anger to spike up the conversation.

   "Your friend, what's about him?" Finn asked, suddenly a little awkward. But the stupid grin was still in place, so all good.

   The blonde was confused for a moment, not understanding the question. "Huh?"

   "Murphy said he's your boyfriend, is that true?" the boy asked, raising an eyebrow as if to dare her to say yes. "I'm just curious, you don't have to tell me."

   "Boyfriend." Clarke deadpanned. Was he being serious? Come on.

   "As in partner, lover. You know someone-"

   "I know what you meant." the girl almost huffed, barely holding back a few sarcastic answers. She thought it was better to befriend him, since he was close to Raven and she and Lincoln needed her to escape. He wasn't making it any easier, though.

   "Well?" he prompted her to respond, his hand still on her arm.

   "No."

   "No?"

   "He's just my friend."

   "Oh!"

   Finn let out a pleased chuckle and ran a hand through his hair, making sure to make it flow in a sexy way. Kinda. Not really, ok, but maybe Clarke's standards were a tiny bit too high. I mean, she was with Lexa after all. That woman kinda made you standards raise, that was for sure. She was blatantly ignoring him, hoping he would get the hint and shut up, but of course she had not such luck. The boy's grin came out flirty, this time, and his hand on her arm tighten imperceptibly.

   "So, you're free? Single?"

   Clarke held back a heavy, desperate sigh. Not only was she a prisoner, she had to endure that torture, too. She wished she could trade places with Lincoln, better be whipped than having to endure _this_.

   "Yes, I guess you could say that." she lied. For as much as she wanted to get rid of him, she wasn't going to tell him about Lexa. No way.

 

  ///

 

   "Hey, Raven? Why is you boyfriend hitting on the grounder?"

   "What?!"

   The brunette hurried to get next to Octavia, that had just finished preparing the trap for the guard, a small sachet of nuts, enough to make him go... well... nuts. When Raven was near her, the younger girl pointed with a finger in direction of the two. Finn's hand was on the blonde's arm and he was in his flirty mode. Raven knew that side of him. Octavia did, too, but she wasn't going to tell her that.

   "No way. It's not possible, he wouldn't do that to me." Raven said, not allowing herself to think that of him.

   "He's doing it, though." Octavia remarked.

   The other brunette just huffed, her eyes narrowed. "Let's just get her out of this camp." she said, with a shade of hurt and jealousy in her voice.

 

  ///

 

   "Why would you trust me?" Clarke asked, climbing the ladder in the Dropship. She stopped in the middle of level two and stared at the boy. He claimed that he trusted her, but she still wondered why. He didn't even know her.

   "I told you." he said, a little tired already. He should have been resting, the wound in his chest wasn't nearly close to being healed, yet. "You're one of us. You may not think that yet, or not believe it, but I do."

   The two stared in each other eyes for too long. Clarke was seriously regretting saving his life, but he clearly thought she did that for a whole other reason than buying some time.

   "You saved my life, Clarke." he said, and the blonde wanted to grimace at the way he pronounced her name, but refrained. "You'll see that you're one of us, of my people. And when you do," he tightened the hold on her arm. "I'll be here."

   Clarke could only look at him in the eyes. Why was he so convinced?

 

    _In the forest_

 

   "You know, the first dropship from the Ark will be here soon." Wells stated, trying not to walk too loudly, in case the grounders were watching them. The rain was falling slightly, but still enough to wet their hair and clothes. "You can't avoid Jaha forever."

   "I can try." Bellamy commented, distractly, stepping on every twig and leaf.

   The other boy huffed, but let the topic drop. He just wasn't in the mood for that conversation, now, he had too many things in mind. A lot of them regarding Clarke. He tried to shake the thought away from his head, and looked at the map. They were near, the aid depot should have been somewhere around there.

   "We're here." he said to Bellamy, stopping near a fallen tree. "The depot should be here, somewhere."

   "We should start looking for a door."

 

***

 

   After half an hour, things were going down pretty fast.

   While Wells was happy that they managed to find some blankets, that would have prevented them to freeze to death, he wasn't really happy about the rifles. They were necessary and useful, that was true, but most of the delinquents were just that: delinquents. Putting guns in their hands was like lighting the fuse of a bomb, it was meant to explode in your face sooner or later.

   Now, Bellamy had tried to teach him how to shoot, and Wells was kinda enjoying it - he would have never admitted that to anyone other than himself - and the other boy had said he needed some air. Wells understood, he looked sweaty and a little out of breath and the younger boy wondered if he was feeling well.

   He turned to put away the rifle, when something connected with the back of his head and everything went black.

 

    _TonDC_

 

   "Alright, it's still raining a bit but the storm is gone." Lexa said, making an effort to stay still on her throne. "We send the scouts out the moment they're ready to go."

   After receiving their orders, almost everyone left. Indra threw a worried glance at the two women still in the tent and then went to organize the groups of scouts with Colan. Gustus followed her out of the tent right away, wanting to leave them some privacy, silently hoping that they could make each other feel a little better. A heavy silence filled the room, until Anya decided to break it.

   "I want to go with them." she said.

   "Me too." Lexa answered in a sad whisper. "But, what if we go look for her, and she comes back on her own but doesn't find us? Or, a scout finds her but we're not here when they come to tell us?" the commander pressed a hand on her eyes, sighing tiredly. "I want to go, but I want to be here if they find her, too."

   "Hey." Anya walked slowly towards her former second, and put a hand on her shoulder. "They _will_ find her. We _will_ get her back. You have to believe that."

   Lexa nodded, hating the fact that her position was stopping her from just walk out there and find her love like she was dying to do since the moment she had stepped in the village. She just wanted her Clarke back, but she had duties and responsibilities. She knew Clarke would have wanted her to stay. She hated that, too.

   "Go." she told Anya. "I can't go myself, as much as I want to, but you can. Go find her."

   Both women stared in each other's eyes, both of them trying with all their might not to start crying, but a few tears escaped anyway. Lexa got up from her throne and practically fell in Anya's arms, burying herself in the strong hug of the general. It didn't take long for them to actually start crying, the fear of losing the most important person in their lives too much for them to bear. When they pulled back from the embrace, their eyes were red and their cheeks tear-stained, but they weren't feeling better. It was like someone had ripped off their hearts, and all they could think about was how scared they were, how worried, and how everything could have gotten back to normal in a matter of hours if the scouts found Clarke. Or how things could have been even worse if they didn't.

   Either way, both of them knew from the look in each other's eyes that at least they weren't alone in their struggle. After all, they were family.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm ready for the yelling if you must.
> 
> Some of you may be glad that I planned the Clexa reunion and it is for chapter 12. Confirmed.
> 
> Next Chapter: The escape plan happens, but will everything go as planned?
> 
> Let me know what you think! :)


	11. To Go Nuts Eating Nuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The escape plan happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Near the beginning of the chapter there is a sex scene (non-graphic) with Finn involved. If that bothers you, skip the first -The Dropship.
> 
> Violence (non graphic) at the beginning and towards the end of the chapter, too.
> 
> That being said, Enjoy!

 

   Wells woke up with a killer headache and still on the floor, inside the bunker. He groaned slightly in pain and brought a hand to the back of his head, where he felt a bump and something awfully similar to dried blood. Now, he was worried. He slowly got on his feet, feeling his head pounding and his balance a little off, but everything else seemed fine, so he calmed down a bit. Then he remembered someone knocking him out and the worry came back full force.

   He grabbed a rifle - even if he didn't like it, they needed them - and carefully walked out of the bunker looking for Bellamy.

 

***

 

   When he found him, it wasn't in the way he had expected to.

   Bellamy was on the ground, seemingly hallucinating if the way he was crying and shouting things to the wind was anything to go by. Wells was about to go get him, when a tall figure came out of the tree line and walked towards him in a menacing demeanor. He recognized Dax, a rifle in his hands, pointing it at Bellamy's head.

    _He’s gonna kill him_ , he thought.

   Wells ran towards the two and pointed his own rifle at Dax's head, a determined look in his eyes. "Drop it, Dax! Now!"

   The boy turned to look at him with a cold expression on his face, never stopping to point his gun to the kneeled boy's head. "Go away, Shumway said no witnesses. If you go away now, I won't kill you."

   Wells shook his head decisively, aiming at the boy. "No can do, Dax. Now drop it, ok? Please."

   "You'll have to shoot me."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   Finn was back in bed, actually trying to rest a bit. He had to admit that even a short talk and a few steps had been a little too much for his wounded body, and after Clarke suggested he went to rest, he had obeyed. That thought brought a smile to his lips. If Clarke wanted him to rest and heal, then she cared about him. That only made him smile wider.

   He was deep in thought, his mind focusing on the blonde, when Raven entered the tent with a weird expression. Oddly enough, the girl hadn't really crossed his mind all day, he had been too worried about Clarke. He smiled again thinking about her without seeing the brunette in front of him return his smile with a sweet one, thinking he was just happy to see her. Which he was. Really. He still loved her, maybe just not the way she wanted to be loved.

   "Hey." she said, her voice lower than usual. "How are you feeling?" she asked, sweetly, getting nearer and nearer.

   "Weak, bored." he just shrugged. "Grateful to be alive."

   Raven hummed, pleased by his answer, and went to sit on the edge of the makeshift bed, resting a hand on his stomach and gently caressing it from over his shirt. "Are you tired? Do you need to sleep?"

   Finn shrugged, shaking his head slightly. He _was_ a little tired, but he could sense that the girl had something on her mind and probably wanted to talk about it. He didn't expect her to actually climb on the bed and carefully straddle his hips.

   "What...?" he started, but she interrupted him.

   "Sshh." Raven took off her shirt and let it fall on the ground, without checking where it landed. The sweet smile was replaced by a sexy smirk that, he failed to notice, didn't quite reach her eyes. "Do you still love me?"

   "Yes."

   "Prove it." Raven said, her eyes dark not only because of the desire but because she was hurt too. And insecure. "Prove that you love me, Finn."

   The boy laid there while she started stripping him, feeling the energy come back to him in no time. His body was answering the girl's call like it had a mind of its own, readying itself for the strenuous activity it was going to willingly face. Finn didn't notice the hurt in Raven's eyes, the way her voice would shake while asking if he still loved her. He didn't feel the jealousy in her touches, or the anger in the movement of her hips. He didn't see the fear of losing him in her gaze.

   He didn't see her at all.

   It wasn't Raven's hair that would tickle his nose when they kissed. It weren't Raven's hands that were pressed against his shoulders, stabilizing the girl above him while she moved. It weren't Raven's eyes the he couldn't stop staring at the whole time. All he could see was sun-like blonde hair, curly and bright. It was clear blue the color of his partner's eyes. Her skin, sexily glistening with a thin layer of sweat, wasn't tanned but white and pale like porcelain. Finn noticed the way the girl's bites weren't gentle, but possessive. He understood that the whole act of having sex together, right now, was a way for the girl above him to claim him as her own. He got everything right, except his lover.

   When the moment came, and he was meeting the girl's movements by thrusting his own hips upward, it wasn't Raven he was giving himself to. It wasn’t her name that he whispered, not even realising it. A few minutes later, when his heart was beating steadily again and his breath was back to normal, he felt guilty. He knew it wasn't right for Raven, he knew he should have said something to her, but he couldn't bring himself to destroy one of the things he loved. Because he loved Raven. He did.

   Just, not the way she deserved to be loved.

 

    _In the forest_

 

   "Put it down, Dax! Now!"

   Bellamy shook the remnants of his hallucination away and took notice of the situation. When he finally understood what was going on, he reached for his gun just when Dax shot Wells. The rifle emitted a click and didn't fire. Bellamy kept trying to get his gun while the other boy was distracted by Wells but he couldn't find it. He was sure he had seen it only a minute before, it was-

_Shit_. It was part of the hallucination, now he remembered. He had left the gun to Murphy telling him to keep an eye on the grounders. Now they were screwed.

   He saw Wells run towards Dax and knock him down. While the two were fighting, he tried to find something, _anything_ , that wasn't a rifle. Obviously they needed to fix the bullets before they could use them. He saw Dax roll them over and thought ' _fuck it!_ '. He grabbed the first thing his hand landed on - a broken branch - and downed it on the boy's head. They heard a loud ' _crack_ ' and Dax's body went limp, collapsing on top of Wells, a red trail of blood staining the boy's clothes.

 

  ///

 

   "Here." Bellamy offered him his hand and he accepted it, slowly getting up.

   "Thanks." he said, wiping his hands on his jeans. He sighed tiredly, staring at Dax's body lying lifeless on the ground. "I can't believe we're killing each other, now."

   Oddly enough, he felt Bellamy's hand on his shoulder, giving some sort of respectful comfort. "We had no choice." he said, sadly. "Now let's go back to camp, we have to tell the others about the guns."

    _Oh no. Oh shit._

   It was too soon. He knew that the girls needed more time to get the two grounders out of the camp, they couldn't go back now. He knew as well that he couldn't say anything to stop the boy right now, it would have been too suspicious. Bellamy would have understood.

   "You coming or what?"

   Wells' head snapped up at Bellamy's voice calling him and he started walking with him toward the aid depot to get their things. He could only hope the grounders would have already escaped when they arrived at the camp.

 

_The Dropship_

 

   Clarke and Lincoln watched as Octavia threw a small sachet of Jobi nuts to their guards, Miller and Murphy. The blonde tried not to make a gagging noise at the heart-eyes her friend and the small brunette were throwing at each other, but she couldn't hold back a groan.

   Seeing that Miller guy sit back with a toothy grin and start eating the nuts, the girl murmured to Lincoln: " _Your girl played that idiot quite easily, I must say._ " She obtained what she wanted when noticed the small smile on the beated man's lips.

   "God, I'm done with this shit." Murphy suddenly said. Clarke watched him worriedly, since he still hadn't eaten a nut. "I'm going for a walk." Miller nodded and a second later the other boy was climbing down the ladder, disappearing from their views.

   Now they had to wait.

 

***

 

   After what felt like an hour - it was merely fifteen/twenty minutes - Miller was gone and the two girls were back in the room.

   "Alright, let's do it quick, we don't have much time." Raven said, a little breathless.

   Clarke felt a pair of hands starting to untie her wrists and grunted, her shoulders aching for having been forced in an awkward position for too much time. Lincoln was even worse, he had been restrained in the same position for days without a break and the sky boy had tortured him. In fact, the moment the ropes were gone he fell on his knees, crying out a little for the pain. Clarke grabbed his hand and helped him throw his arm around her shoulders, helping him stand even though she herself was pretty exhausted.

   "Ok, we gotta go. Now." Octavia muttered, hiding her jealous expression at the sight of the blonde holding Lincoln up.

   When they headed out of the Dropship, the two grounders had to hold back a laugh at the sight of the delinquents running around and talking to themselves, completely high on nuts. One of them was clutching a wooden stick like his life depended on it, and a young girl was on her knees, staring at her bare hands and laughing hysterically. After a second Raven started talking to Clarke, explaining the plan she had discussed with the others.

   "Listen, we talked for a while, the other day. We started things in the wrong way, and we want to make some sort of truce with your people." the mechanic said, leading them through the camp.

   Clarke huffed, Lincoln weighing her down a little. "I can talk to someone. But you need to replace you leader."

   Octavia threw her a weird look, pushing aside one of the drugged delinquents rambling about a broom in a closet. "You mean that your people won't make a truce with Bellamy?"

   This time, it was Lincoln the one who answered. "Anya will want to kill him."

   Clarke snorted, knowing that he was totally right. "If he’s lucky."

   Raven stopped behind a tent, waiting for a bunch of guys to go hugging elsewhere. "What do you mean, who's Anya?" she asked.

   The blonde shook her head, clearly telling the brunette that she wasn't going to answer. The girl seemed to accept it, and then Octavia gestured them to follow her to walk around the group of guys, still hugging and babbling about the moon not wanting to cooperate and something about the sea.

   "Anyway," Raven started again. "We don't want a war, or anything, ok? So if there's someone you can talk to, please just... do it?" she asked to them, a bit insecure in front of their stares.

   The two grounders exchanged a look, then Clarke nodded. "I can arrange a meeting."

   By the time they reached the gate, Lincoln was able to walk without help and Clarke felt relieved. She really wasn't in the state to keep him on his feet all the way to TonDC, she was too tired already. They stopped by the gate, and turned to have a few last words with the delinquents.

   "We'll let you know if our leader agrees to a meeting." Clarke said to Raven, who nodded with a serious expression on her face.

   The brunette furrowed her brows, biting her lip in uncertainty. "Be honest. You were going to let Finn die, weren't you?" she asked, her voice doing nothing to conceal her emotional state.

   The blonde took a deep breath, thinking of the best answer. At the end, she decided that she could as well say the truth, and nodded. Immediately, hurt flashed in her brown eyes, swiftly followed by understanding. "You were buying time." Raven said, quietly. "Why?"

   Clarke sighed, carefully avoiding to look at Lincoln and Octavia that, she was sure, were too close to be just talking. She was going to have a long chat with her friend about appropriate times for kissing when they got back to the village. "I was waiting for my people to come and get us." she said.

   The other girl nodded, still worried and a little disappointed. She dared a look at the others and grimaced when she saw that Octavia and Lincoln were still pretty close, talking quietly. She shook her head and took a steeling breath. "Listen, Wells wanted me to tell you that he's sor-"

   "Hey!"

 

  ///

 

   Finn couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were going away. He could understand the grounder, Bellamy had tortured him and he probably just wanted to go back to his people, but _Clarke_? He didn't want her to go away.

   "Hey!" he yelled, running towards them, the stitches in his skin pulled a little but didn't tear open, so it was good. Four pair of eyes snapped up and he stopped, feeling the weight of their stares. "What's going on?"

   "What are you doing here, you should be in bed!?" Raven whisper-shouted at him, approaching him with a worried expression.

   He just shrugged, not really paying attention to her words, and decided to end things with the grounder before trying to convince the blonde to stay. He pulled out the man's knife, the one he had used to stabbed him, and handed it to him. "This belongs to you, I think." he said quietly.

   The man studied him warily for a second, then stretched an arm and carefully took the knife, stepping back as if he was expecting the boy to suddenly attack him. "Thanks."

   Finn nodded and turned to finally look at Clarke. He took a step towards her and failed to notice her stiff posture. "You're going too?" he whispered.

   "Of course." the blonde answered, nervously scanning their surroundings. They all knew that they were wasting precious time, but so far everything looked good.

   "Why won't you stay?" Finn asked in a whisper so quiet that only Clarke could hear, barely. The blonde woman stared at him in disbelief and annoyance, her blue eyes clearly telling him to back off, but he didn't seem to get it.

   "It's time to go." she said, ignoring him and stepping back, followed by Lincoln. "We'll let you know about that meeting."

   Raven nodded, crossing her arms on her chest and gritting her teeth. "Ok."

   Clarke noticed Octavia wave at Lincoln, a sweet smile on her lips. She wasn't that bad, she had to admit that. The two grounders turned and started walking away from the camp, when someone shouted something and everything froze for a moment, and then:

    _Bang!_

 

  ///

 

   Clarke heard that loud noise and then pain in her arm. Lincoln grunted and faltered on his feet, holdin his shoulder. They turned and saw Murphy pointing a gun at them, shouting: "Don't move!"

   The two shared a glance and took their chance when they saw Finn launching on the other boy to get the gun, and they started running. They heard another _Bang!_ and the next thing Clarke knew was that she was on the ground holding her right leg, that was now covered in blood and extremely sore. Lincoln was next to her in a second, trying to help her up, but she could still hear the boy behind them fighting with the others, and she knew they didn't have time. She pushed the man away.

   " _Go! Go away!_ " she told him.

   Lincoln shook his head. " _I won't leave you here, come on Clarke! Get up!_ "

   She grabbed his arm and stared at him in the eyes, while the noises of the fight became louder. " _Lincoln! I can't run and you can't carry me! But you know where I am, so go! And tell them._ "

   He knew she was right, of course he knew, but he just didn't want to leave his friend injured and in the enemies territory. " _Clarke..._ "

    _Bang!_ another shot, this time it missed them both but it was still dangerously near, and Lincoln cursed.

   " _Run, now!_ " Clarke yelled at her friend, and pushed him with all the strength she could muster.

   He hesitated for a second, then said: " _We'll come back for you. Ste yuj._ " and disappeared among the trees.

 

  ///

 

   Wells and Bellamy heard the shots and ran into the camp, only to find it in the caos' hands. The delinquents were either asleep or drugged, running around crazily, talking to themselves, hugging trees and laughing at nothing while eating soil and pine cones.

   "What the..." Bellamy muttered, pushing away a boy that was trying to hug him. "They must have eaten the nuts."

   Wells nodded, serious, then both boys jumped when they heard another shot. They took off running, and when they reached the gate what they saw left them stunned for a second. Finn was on the ground with a bleeding nose, and Murphy was pointing his gun towards the trees, shouting at someone not to move while Octavia and Raven tried to calm him down. Wells immediately went to stop him, knowing that something had to have gone wrong with their plan for the grounders, and he soon discovered he was right. Bellamy arrived a second later and gaped at the sight.

   Clarke was on the ground, dirty and sweating, applying pressure on her right leg that was sporting a bullet wound from which was pouring out a copious trail of dark red blood. Her skin was extremely pale and she was struggling to stay awake. There were no traces of the other grounder.

   "Where's the other?" Bellamy asked a second later, standing next to Murphy.

   "Gone."

 

_TonDC_

 

   Lexa was pacing in the throne hut, anxiously stepping back and forth, crossing and un-crossing her arms while trying her best to keep the calm. If she was being completely honest, though, she was one step away from exiting the damn tent and go look for Clarke by herself. But she had to stay calm, she couldn't just go running in the woods disregarding completely her duties and responsibilities. She was still the commander, after all.

   Every now and then, someone would ask permission to enter and Lexa would sigh deeply, going to sit back on her throne, pretending to be quiet and calm. The visitor would enter, ask something, deliver a message, inform her of something she had to do. She would nod and answer their questions, only to be back on her feet and pacing like an animal in a cage the _moment_ they were out of the tent. So, it was like a blessing when finally she heard Anya's voice calling out her name a moment before the general would barge in with a panicked expression.

   "Lexa! We found Lincoln, the scouts are bringing him here." the woman said.

   "And Clarke?" the commander asked, stopping abruptly in front of the general.

   "Nothing." Anya said, shaking her head slightly. "But maybe he knows where she is."

   The brunette nodded, resuming her pacing. "I hope so."

 

_The Dropship_

 

   "Ok, at least let me fix my leg." Clarke said, back in the Dropship.

   The first bullet had barely scratched her upper arm, but the pain in her leg was much worse. They had brought her in the third level, again, still arguing since some of them wanted to let her go, and some wanted to use her as a bargaining chip. She could understand that, sure, but now her damn leg was kinda distracting.

   After a moment of thought Bellamy agreed nonetheless, saying: "Fine, someone help her, we need her alive."

   "I'm on it." Octavia said, stepping closer to her.

   "No, O. Stay away from her." Bellamy growled, grabbing his sister arm.

   She wriggled out if his hold and snarled back with a fire in her eyes: "No, _you_ stay away from _me_! I'm not on your side this time, Bell!"

   "O, you don't know what you're talking about. She's dangerous." the boy insisted, trying - and failing - to grab her arm again. He was probably going to say something else, but a male voice interrupted him.

   "She's already saved three of us!" Finn snapped, his bleeding nose making it difficult to understand his words, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "She's still one of us, but everyone here seems to have forgotten that-"

   "She’s not one of us!" Bellamy yelled, frustrated.

   Clarke rolled her eyes and called quietly Octavia, who walked silently near the blonde. "Yeah?"

   "Listen, now that they are distracted." the grounder said. "Do you have more of that Moonshine of yours?" she asked, already feeling a knot forming in her stomach at the thought of the horrible liquid. The small brunette nodded seriously, and went to turn away but the healer managed to grab her wrist. "I need a few nuts and something to pull the bullet out of my leg, too."

 

***

 

   Ten minutes later, the argument hadn’t subsided a bit and Octavia was back, holding in her hands a bottle of alcohol, a few nuts and metallic tweezers. Clarke gritted her teeth and told the girl to pour the alcohol on her leg and on the tweezers.

   "Why do you need the nuts?" the young girl asked quietly.

   Clarke smiled a little, taking two nuts in a hand and a glass of water in the other. "If you eat too many, they give you visions." she muttered, while crumbling the nuts with her fingers. She let the crumbs fall in the water and drank it. "But like this, and in the right dosage, they numb the pain."

   "Oh." Octavia finished pouring the alcohol on her wound and put it down. "Now what?"

   "Ok." Clarke breathed out, already starting to feel the nuts' effects. "Now I need you to go in, and pull out the bullet."

   "What? No." Octavia stuttered, alarmed. "I thought you were going to do it yourself, I can't-"

   "I'll do it." Raven chimed in, subtly sniffling and clenching her jaw. "Give me the tweezers." Octavia passed the little object to the other girl with a relieved expression on her face, and the mechanic crouched near her leg.

   "Can I do anything else?" she asked then.

   "Yes." the blonde said, tiredly. She was probably going to pass out soon, so she better say what she had to before it actually happened. "You have fires outside, in the camp. Take a knife and put it in a fire, wait until the blade is red and bring it back to me." Octavia nodded and hurried out of the room, doing as she was told.

   "Don't worry." Raven muttered a second later, nodding towards the other girl's leg. "I'm a zero-g mechanic, I'm used to work with little thing in bad places."

   Clarke actually laughed a little, amused – probably thanks to the nuts, too –. "I wonder if it's a real fact, or just a really lame joke."

   "More real than you think. Anyway..." the girl smirked delivishly and neared the tweezers to her wound, glancing up to meet her eyes. "Ready?"

   "Yes."

 

_TonDC_

 

   "You left her there!?" Anya snapped furiously, staring at Lincoln with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

   "Anya." Lexa called her out, silently telling her to calm down. Funny, since she herself was anything but calm. "Lincoln, explain."

   The man, still sore but feeling a lot better after being seen by a healer, sighed and swallowed painfully. "We were almost out, but one of them had a gun. He shot and at some point he hit Clarke."

   "He hit-" Anya's voice cracked and she had to breath deeply to contain her tears and rage.

   Lexa herself was having the hardest time of her life listening to the scout, but she willed herself to keep the calm, at least externally. "She's injured, then?" she asked, fearing the answer.

   Lincoln nodded. "He hit her leg, and she couldn't run. I wasn't strong enough to carry her yet, so she told me to run and tell you where she is." he concluded the story with a sorrowful sigh.

   Anya started pacing, chewing her fingernails. "So you left her there, injured and alone in the enemy's territory!?" she snapped once again, letting her fear cloud her mind.

   "But not all of them are enemies." the man muttered, drawing Lexa's attention.

   "What are you saying, Lincoln?" the commander asked, narrowing her eyes.

   "They wanted to meet our leaders to talk about a truce. We had to let them know your decision." he lowered his eyes to the floor.

   Lexa scoffed, her emotions still swirling around, making her hands shake and her chest ache in the worst way possible. "And you agreed to this?"

   The scout shook his head. "Not me. Clarke. She agreed to tell them where to meet up."

   Silence fell in the tent, making everything still. Anya had stopped her pacing and Lexa was frozen on her throne, both their faces showing the internal war they were fighting right now. After a minute or so, Anya let her arm fall to her side and sighed deeply, turning to face Lexa. The commander had assumed a blank expression, only her eyes were still showing her feelings. After taking a long, calming breath, the woman got up and nodded.

   "Prepare to deliver the message, then."

 

_The Dropship_

 

   After what for Clarke felt like an eternity the bullet finally came out, and Raven let it fall on a small plate producing a metallic ' _clung_ '. The blonde exhaled in relief, finally knowing that the damn tweezers were far away from her leg. The brunette wiped her forehead and took the knife Octavia had just brought in her own hand.

   "What do I do?" she asked, showing it to her.

   "Just, press it flat against the wound. Don't pull away until I say so." the grounder said, exhausted but still enough clear-minded to give the girls some instructions.

   "God... ok." the tanned girl mumbled, and cleared her throat. After a second of hesitation, she pressed the red, heated blade against her leg. Clarke let out a pained grunt, scrunching up her nose, and after a few seconds she waved at the girl who pulled the knife away. She sighed in relief, barely awake, sensing the consciousness slipping away.

   "Jesus, this is your way of... Hey?"

   "Hoe, what's happening?!"

   "I don't know, she..."

   But Clarke just couldn't hear them anymore. A pitch black veil had made it's way through her mind, clouding her thoughts, and now her eyes had black in their corners, creeping towards her pupils, making it impossible for her to see past the darkness in her mind.

   She passed out.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. Kinda bad ending, wasn't it?  
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Next Chapter: The meeting (aka Clexa reunion). Finally.


	12. Everybody, Stand Down!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting at the bridge, someone gets hurt and finally the reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehi there guys, I'm back.  
> Thanks for all of you that are still following this story, it's so great to know that you like it!
> 
> NOTE: The parts on The Ark aren't written in detail, because it's basically the same as the show so I almost skipped them. I'll write just the necessary of that.  
> Plus, I decided that Finn isn't a crazy-man-in-love-and-obsessed-with-Clarke in this story. He's a normal boy with a really bad crush - not exactly obsessed - and yes he's an asshole but he's not evil. There are no good guy-bad guys here, only persons with history.
> 
> WARNING: this chapter contains violence, watch out for that if it may bother you. Skip when you see: ///**
> 
> Now enjoy!

 

   Lexa was pacing in the throne tent, breathing deeply to calm her pulse. She could almost feel her heart pounding against her ribcage, she could see her fingers shake at every beat, and sense her blood running furiously through her veins. She knew she had to maintain a clear mind during the meeting with the Skaikru, but her body seemed to think otherwise, getting ready to fight whoever tried to keep her away from Clarke. The commander exhaled, bringing a hand up to rub her eyes. She needed to calm down and she needed to do it quick, or else she didn't know what she could do.

   When it was almost time to leave for the meeting, she saw Gustus enter the tent. "Heda, a visitor. Costia kom Floukru."

   "Let her in." she said.

   After a moment the girl entered the tent with a frown, and strode towards her. "I'm so sorry." she mumbled, throwing her arms around Lexa's neck and sniffling.

   Lexa hugged her back, sighing a little in relief. "You don't need to be."

   "Whatever." Costia said, letting go of her friend and wiping her teary eyes. "I didn't come here to cry on your shoulder."

   The green-eyed girl smiled the tiniest smile, and asked: "Why are you here, then?"

   The healer ran a hand through her air and sighed deeply. "I asked Anya to let me come to the meeting, but she said no. Obviously. Which is why I'm here."

   Lexa shook her head, starting to pace again, slowly this time, and clasped her hands behind her back. "I'm sorry, but you can't. If anything goes wrong, we can't afford to lose another healer." she had to swallow a couple times to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat at the thought that something bad could have happened to Clarke. She was sure she couldn't bear something like that.

   The other brunette shook her head, stepping in front of her to stop her pacing. "I knew you would have said that, it's ok. I'm not here to ask you that." Lexa only nodded a little, letting her friend know that she was listening. Costia continued: "I only wanted to tell you, that... that you can do this. Ok?"

   "Ok."

   "And that Clarke will understand."

   That got Lexa's attention. "What?"

   The healer shrugged. "I know you and Anya just want to wipe out these Skaikru assholes and get her back. You know Clarke, she always tries to fix things peacefully before starting a war, but..." she rested a hand on Lexa's shoulder and squeezed it gently, comfortingly. "She will understand if you do it."

   "I hope so."

 

    _The Ark_

 

   Abby and Jake were standing among all the others, listening to Jaha giving his 'Unity Day' speech. They both were too worried to pay attention, though, for Wells and Raven had told them that they couldn't see Clarke 'because of reasons'. They wanted to know what the hell was going on at the camp, but the two teenagers were dead set on not telling them, so for now they didn't have a way to know. Soon, though. Soon, they were gonna be in the Exodus Ship, on their way to meet their daughter again.

   They weren't paying attention when Diana Sidney started muttering things about Jaha cutting the speech short, and they weren't paying attention when she started to back off discreetly, disappearing from the hall. They weren't paying attention to the kids reciting the 'History of Us', walking hand in hand in the cute way only children can. So, when the explosion happened with a thunder-like roar, they weren't fast enough to even think about going for a shelter.

   The shock wave threw them against a wall, and everything went black.

 

    _In the forest_

 

   Clarke was still sleepy and unbelievably thirsty, walking among the trees with the cold metal of the gun pressed against the back of her head. Every time she would spot a scout, hidden on a high branch, she would subtly wave at them with her hands. Her wrists were obviously still tied together, but the boy was so stupid that he had tied them in front of her, and not behind her back. That way, she could wave a little and tell the scouts not to kill them. They didn't want to start a war with them, and besides, she had a plan. She could only hope that it would work.

   Earlier that day, she had been woken up by loud voices, and it had taken her like three seconds to understand that the delinquents were arguing again. As predicted, Bellamy wanted to use her as a bargaining chip to ask her people for supplies and land, while Wells wanted to give her back to her family and _then_ ask for a truce. Obviously, being the one who knew how to use a rifle, Bellamy had won the argument. But of course Clarke wasn't about to stay there and let him screw things up. Her people was at peace, finally, after years of wars. The nightmares that plagued their minds were slowly getting less frequent, so if they wanted a war, they had to pass over her dead body. That's why, the moment she had been alone with Octavia, she had told her to gather the others and get ready to follow them. She knew the girl would have accepted without questions, since she had a good reason to want a truce as well. A reason named Lincoln.

   Now the blonde was walking slowly because of her sore leg, worried out of her mind because there were so many things that could have gone wrong, and yet barely able to contain her excitement at the thought of being back in her nomon's arms. When they arrived at the bridge, Anya wasn't there yet, but Clarke could see the archers posted on the trees. When Bellamy told Jasper and Murphy to find a place to hide, they nodded and tightened their hold on the rifles, then turned and stomped away. Clarke saw that the scouts on the trees had already seen them, and she had to suppress a smirk.

   It took another ten minutes for them to finally appear, and Clarke let out a surprised gasp.

    _Lexa?_

 

  ///

 

   The commander and her general were riding their horses quietly through the forest, both doing their best to mentally prepare themselves for the meeting. When Lexa glanced at her mentor, she immediately noticed her hands, clutching the reins so tightly the knuckles had turned white, and her teeth biting her lips a little too forcefully.

   She was doing exactly the same things. The girl had to fight against herself during the entire trip to the bridge. She just wanted to get Clarke back and then kill everyone in the Skaikru camp. But of course she wasn't going to do it. Maybe.

   If they had hurt Clarke, then they were gonna pay. _Jus drein jus daun_.

   The moment Lexa and Anya guided their horses out of the treeline and spotted the bridge, both of them had to refrain from starting a little war right there and then. What they saw made their blood boil with rage and terror at the same time, and they had to hold back their instincts to fight. She heard Anya gasp and curse, and Lexa's gaze fixated on Clarke, standing there with the boy behind her, pointing a gun to her head. She couldn't help but think that the young blonde was even more beautiful than the last time she had seen her, but she shook that thought away, now was not the time.

   The first thing she noticed when she got near enough was the big, dark red stain on the girl's pants, and a makeshift bandage hugging tightly her right thigh.

   She was going to kill that boy.

 

  ///

 

   Clarke saw her mother and Lexa stop at the other end of the bridge and she smiled. Seriously, since when Lexa was so beautiful? Was it possible that she had forgotten how beautiful she was in the time they had been apart? She forced herself not to think about that and noticed the way the commander was clenching her jaw and fists while getting off the horse, and understood right away that she had to tell her and Anya about her plan, as soon as possible. They both looked ready to fight, and she had no doubt that they could have killed the three idiots with little efforts if they wanted to.

   But they weren't there for that.

   When she locked eyes with her mother, she subtly mouthed: " _I'm ok_ ", hoping that she would understand.

   When the woman turned to mutter something to Lexa, she had the confirmation. The brunette looked at her with worried eyes and Clarke nodded slightly. She saw the women exhale and her own smile widened.

   She felt Bellamy press the gun more forcefully against her head and then scream: "I am Bellamy, the leader of my group. I have one of you as my hostage, if you agree to my requests I won't hurt her."

   Clarke saw the two exchange a look and a nod, and noticed Lexa's hand slowly getting near her knife, her steps slow and measured, bringing her to the ideal distance to strike. Shit, she was going to kill him. She felt something warm spread in her chest at the sight of her lover so dead set in getting her back, but the rational part of her mind just wouldn't leave her alone. She had a plan.

   " _When you're ready get away from him._ " Lexa told her, focusing on her task and not even bothering to answer the boy. Her right hand slowly and subtly moved the hem of her coat aside, steadily reaching for her knife while the general by her side widened her stance, ready to jump.

   Bellamy, though, was convinced he had the situation under control and said to Clarke: "Translate. Now."

   The blonde took a deep breath and nodded. " _Don't kill him, he's only one. I told others to come for the truce, I have a plan._ "

   Anya scoffed, her posture tense as if she was ready to snap and kill the boy the second Clarke was safe. Lexa narrowed her eyes, her hand still discreetly getting closer to the knife. " _I don't trust them Clarke. I don't want to take risks. Get away from him and we'll do the rest._ " Lexa said, and _Gods_ , had she missed that voice, Clarke thought.

   "What did she say?" the boy behind her asked, growing more insecure every passing second under the two women's heavy stares.

   "She wants to know what is it that you want." she lied, considering the best way to escape from his hold. After he told her the several things he wanted Clarke steadied herself and told her family: " _I know you're worried about me but we don't need to start a war. These three are idiots, it's true, but in their camp there are children, and none of them is a warrior._ " she took a breath, knowing that she'll have to use her injured leg to get away from him, but she knew it needed to be done. " _The ones that helped me and Lincoln are coming, we can form a truce with them._ " she met the two warriors' eyes. " _Don't trust them, trust me._ "

 

  ///

 

   Lexa was clenching her jaw so hard she was sure that it would never work normally again. She exchanged a look with Anya, and they engaged a silent conversation.

   The had heard Clarke, others were coming and with them, there was a possibility to make peace. For as much as they just wanted to kill them, maybe that just wouldn't have been the best course of action. They could have tried to get Clarke back and then go away, but it wasn't a real solution. It left them with the others. The others that they didn't trust. They did trust Clarke, though.

   With a nod, Lexa and her mentor agreed to follow the girl's plan. Ignoring the raw panic and fury that would assault her from the inside every time she looked in Clarke's direction, only to see her tied up with a gun pointed to her head, she swallowed the lump in her throat.

   " _Ok. Step away from him, we won't kill him._ " Anya told her with the strongest voice she could manage. She smiled a little, forcefully. " _We trust you._ "

 

  ///

 

   Anya was so focused on the sight of her daughter, her beautiful daughter held hostage by a sky-idiot, that she almost missed the signal. It didn't stop her though. When she saw Clarke nod subtly, she readied herself. Then shit happened so fast, that if later someone would ask her she probably wouldn't know what to say. Or maybe she would, who knows.

   She saw Clarke inhale sharply and then use her right leg - already injured - to deliver a powerful kick to the boy's ankle. She hit him from a weird angle, considering her position in front of him, but it was enough. The boy grunted and was distracted for the small second the blonde needed to hit him hard against the ribcage with her elbow, knocking the breath out of him long enough for her to step away.

   Anya's heart was pumping wildly in her chest, resounding in her ears, making it difficult to hear what was happening, but she knew it anyway, and she was ready. In a instant she jumped forward and grabbed her daughter's hand, tugging her away from the boy.

 

  /// **

 

   Lexa saw Anya grab Clarke by the and and heard her ask: " _You ok?_ "

   Clarke answered: " _Yes._ " and that was everything she needed to know to placate the storm howling in her chest.

   Then, it all came automatically. She heard the other warriors run under the bridge to capture the two sky-boys, and she focused on the leader. He was just now regaining his breath, and after a second of confusion, fear deformed his features and he raised the gun, pointing it towards them.

   Fury overwhelmed her, together with the sheer panic a person feels when something's threatening what they love the most, and Lexa did what she did better. Her hand closed around the knife and in less than a second it was cutting the air between her and the boy that was threatening her family. The blade planted in the boy's right shoulder with extreme precision, just under his collarbone, sinking in the flesh till it reached the hilt, staining it with red blood. Bellamy screamed in pain and surprise, bringing his free hand to his shoulder and retracting it already covered in blood, the dark stain rapidly expanding over his clothes, but he still didn't drop the gun. _Bastard_.

   Not fully trusting herself with the boy's fate, knowing that she was one step away from crossing the distance and killing him in the most painful way she could think about, she hurried to tell the general: " _Anya, now!_ ".

   The woman jumped in action, leaving Clarke in her custody. The moment she felt the blonde's warmth held securely in her arms once again, the commander felt like she could finally breath after a way too long time.

 

  /// **

 

   Finally, Anya heard her former second telling her to go, and she gladly did. Now that she knew that Clarke was safe in Lexa's arms, she was dying to go give that sky-boy a little piece of her mind. Just like a jaguar jumps it's prey, so did she.

   With one long step the general was in front of him, and now she could see how sweaty he already was, both scared and in pain, and she didn't mind one bit. That was the waste of oxygen that had kidnapped her daughter, he deserved it. When he tried - pathetically - to raise his gun again, the general kicked his leg so hard he fell on his knees, crying out in pain - honestly he was lucky if that leg wasn't broken - and then, with another fast kick, the woman sent the gun flying in the air, not caring where it landed. Before he could think of doing anything else, she swiftly grabbed the hilt of the knife still planted in his shoulder, smirking when she saw his scared expression.

   "No, please, wai-" he started pleading her, tears falling from his eyes, but she was unforgiving today.

   She turned the knife inside of the boy's flesh before extracting it with a strong pull. He cried out again in pain and a fresh stream of blood poured from the wound, soaking the boy's shirt and jacket and dripping to his pants, leaving a trail of dark stains in its path. Anya used her free hand to take a hold of Bellamy's black, curly hair and pulled his head back, exposing his throat, then she rested the red-stained knife over his sweaty skin.

   Looking at him from above, she snarled at him: "Make a move, lose you life, sky-boy."

 

    _The Ark_

 

   After waking up, both Abby and Jake got to work, helping the injured and removing debris that would block the doors. It went on for about two hours, when suddenly counselor Sidney came running in the command room.

   "Diana. What's happening?" Jaha asked, rather calmly.

   "We have to delay the launch of the Exodus." she said, looking worried. "One of the mechanics, Cuyler Ridley. He's the one who placed the bomb, and well..." the woman paused for a second. "he just turned himself in."

 

***

 

   Logically, Kane ran off to question the terrorist, and again nobody noticed Diana Sidney's very opportune disappearance.

   Abby was again thinking about Clarke. God, she was so anxious, she had waited ten years to see her again, ten long, depressed years, and now she had the opportunity to held her in her arms again. She didn't need to ask to know that Jake was thinking exactly the same things. He kept checking his watch, nervously waiting for the green light that would allow them to get in the ship. He would jump at every open door, half expecting the good news, half fearing that something had gone wrong.

   Kane had been questioning that mechanic for hours by now, yet there were no news from him. Just when everyone had started to worry, it began. A loud noise and a trembling that involved the entire Ark scared them all, and people started asking things like: "What's happening?" and "Is it another bomb?"

   Then, just when Jaha, Sinclair and Jake had started to look into it, the lights went off and everything became cold.

 

    _The bridge_

 

   Wells, Raven, Octavia and Finn were struggling to reach the damn bridge before it was too late. Raven had been crazy mad at Finn when Octavia had told them about Clarke's plan and the boy had volunteered. It was, indeed, a bad idea since Finn was still healing and he didn't need to reopen his stitches running around in the forest, but he was the only one of them who actually knew how to follow traces, so they kinda needed him.

   To say that Wells was worried would have been an understatement. He was more than worried. He was... super-extremely worried. After some arguing, they had decided to take a rifle each, just to be prepared in case the negotiations with the grounders went badly. The problem was, none of them really knew how to use them, and it was very probable that the bullets were made of shit. So yeah, he was worried.

   After an hour or so of quietly stomping in the woods following a lost-looking Finn, they reached a small clearing from which they could reach the bridge. What they saw when they stepped near enough wasn't, anyway, very reassuring.

   Bellamy was kneeling on the ground, his clothes completely soaked in blood, he had a very bad looking wound on his right shoulder and a knife held to his throat. The woman behind him had a firm grip on his hair, and was now looking at them with fire in her eyes. Wells couldn't help but notice how tall and scary she looked, her light warpaint sharpening her exotic features and her dirty blonde hair falling freely over her shoulders. Further, he saw Clarke securely held in the arms of an even scarier woman, with black warpaint making her green eyes appear like they could glow in the dark. She had a black coat that flowed down under her knees, a sword strapped to her hip and well braided dark brown hair, that left her face uncovered so that everyone could see how her sharp jawline clenched in rage. They were fucked.

   A muffled grunt made him look to his left and his eyes widened a little in surprise at the sight of both Jasper and Murphy held tightly by two men twice the boys' size, with knives at their throats and horrified expressions on their faces.

   "Wells," Raven's voice whispered behind him, and the dark skinned boy felt the girl poke his ribs. "Wells, seriously, look at the trees. We're fucked."

   When he actually looked up at the trees for the first time, she saw the dozen of arrows and spears pointed in their direction, waiting for them to give the warriors a reason to kill them all.

   "Well shit."

 

  ///

 

   When the other sky people arrived, Clarke felt Lexa tense beside her like a tiger, ready to protect it's mate. The blonde had a hand on the commander shoulder to steady herself, her leg hurting like a bitch, and she could feel Lexa's hand on her hip, subtly helping her without making it look like she was struggling. God, she just wanted to hug her and never let her go, that woman was too good to her.

   " _Lexa,_ " she whispered in the brunette's ear, " _these are the ones that I told you about. They helped us._ "

   Her girlfriend's eyes were fixated on the Skaikru, staring at them menacingly. Anya was still holding Bellamy, but her gaze was on Clarke, shooting her a questioning look, silently asking if they were the people they were expecting. When the girl nodded she huffed, and started staring at them just like Lexa. In that moment, Clarke was sure that her girlfriend had learned way too much from Anya.

   Lexa exhaled worriedly, and slowly turned her head to meet the blonde's blue eyes. " _Fine, we'll talk to them._ " they shared a small smile, then Lexa shouted at the warriors hidden among the trees: " _Everybody, stand down!_ "

 

  ///

 

   Wells didn't know what the woman had just shouted but he was glad she did, because after a second all the spears and arrows aiming at their heads were gone, and he felt like he could breath again.

   He saw the brunette tell something to someone behind her, and a moment later Lincoln was jogging towards the group. No one was surprised when Octavia suddenly smiled like a fool, almost forgetting her rifle, that now was uselessly hanging from her shoulder. When the young man reached them, he smiled briefly at Octavia, but then his face turned serious.

   "They agree to negotiate with you about a truce, but you have to put your weapons on the ground and agree that they" he pointed at the three guys still held hostages. "stay where they are until the end of the negotiation."

   "No way." Finn said, his eyes wide and fixated on Clarke. "No, they have Cl-"

   "Shut the fuck up, Finn!" Raven snapped at him, not even letting him finish his sentence. "I say that we do it. We came here for that anyway, right?"

   Wells nodded, a little anxious but determined. "Yeah, ok. We agree, let's go fix these idiots' mess."

   They all put down the guns and knives they carried and allowed Lincoln to search them to make sure that they didn't have others hidden in their clothes. Really, they weren't that smart. Then, they all had started to walk in the grounders direction when Lincoln stopped them stretching out an arm.

   "He goes alone."

 

***

 

   After a while, things looked like they were going smoothly with the negotiation. The woman with the knife at Bellamy's throat was paying close attention to the talk, but didn't show obvious signs of anger so Wells was probably doing a good job. Bellamy was still alive, after all.

   The woman with the black warpaint and Clarke looked reasonably satisfied and weren't yelling or ordering to kill them, so he was _definitely_ doing a good job. Lincoln and Octavia were standing next to each other at an appropriate - not really - distance while Raven was annoyed that she couldn't hear the negotiation. Finn was just staring intensely at Clarke, a pensive expression on his face.

   After half an hour of staring, Lincoln noticed and decided to speak up. "Listen, Finn." his voice got the others attention. "You should know that it is not a good idea to think about her the way you do."

   That surely attracted Raven's interest, even though she didn't show it. Finn, however, was just as serious as the man in front of him. "What are you talking about?"

   "Clarke." Lincoln said, barely managing to hold back an eye roll.

   "So what about her?" Finn asked, daring the man to speak up. "She told me you're nothing more than a friend."

   The scout huffed, slightly shaking his head. "It's true, we're friends. But if you try anything with her I will be the last of your problems."

   The other boy scoffed and crossed his arms, completely disregarding the fact that his girlfriend was there, getting more hurt each passing second. "I don't think so. I know she's free, so don't try to scare me off."

   "Well, then what you know is wrong."

   After that there was a pause, during which both boys just stared at each other angrily in the eyes. Then Finn spoke again, his voice a little less self-confident. "No, she- she told me she's free. _She told me!_ " he snapped, his emotions starting to come to the surface.

   "She's not. She _lied_ to you." Lincoln said through gritted teeth. He didn't like this sky boy, and Clarke was his friend. No way he was letting this short-tempered asshole getting ideas about the girl. "She is the lover of the most powerful person in these lands, if you so much as look at her the wrong way, you will die very young."

   "The most powerful, huh? Yeah well, I don't see this powerful man here today." the boy snarled with a smirk, uncrossing his arms to clench his fists tightly. "He didn't even bother to come here and get her back by himself, so he mustn't be all that great, now, am I right?"

   "You know nothing, sky boy. And you're just getting yourself in trouble with your attitude." the man warned him, but he wouldn't listen.

   "I know that I can give her more. I'm surely better than this man! He's not even here, _I_ would have tried to get her back! _I_ would have done everything to get her back, he didn't even try!" Finn growled at the man, his hands shaking with how much he was clenching his fists. After a few seconds, though, he took a deep breath and lowered his head in shame, looking tired. "Sorry." he said, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. "But you’re her friend. You should want what’s best for her."

   For almost a whole minute, Lincoln stayed silent, and both Raven and Octavia thought that he was going to beat the hell out of Finn for being so stubborn, but then the man exhaled from his nose and started talking calmly. "The commander rules on everything you can see walking for weeks in every direction. Heda's authority is second to no one's, not even kings or queens." he explained. Then he raised an arm, pointing at the pair in front of Wells, still talking about the truce. " _She_ is the woman with the black warpaint, over there." he gave a pointed look at Finn. " _Next to Clarke._ "

   The other three just gaped, shocked by his words. Octavia was just surprised, Raven was actually relieved - Clarke had a girlfriend, that made her quite out of Finn's league - and Finn was just speechless. That wasn't possible. The boy shook his head, disbelief written all over his face.

   " _She_ is what is best for Clarke." the man said.

   "I don't believe you." he whispered. "I don't want to believe you."

   Just when Lincoln was about to answer, Wells came back with a smile on his face. "I did it, guys!"

 

***

 

   After some convincing, Finn accepted to help Bellamy get back to camp. The dark-haired boy stood defeated with his head down. He couldn't walk by himself, his right leg was too fragile after the powerful kicks it had received, and his shoulder needed to be medicated. Just like his ego. Jasper and Murphy surrendered without complaints - they were too scared to say anything - and the latter actually decided to help Finn carry the other boy to their camp. After that, Octavia remained a little longer to talk to Lincoln while Wells and Raven were called by the grounders to have a word.

   When they arrived in front of them, Clarke was basically hugging the dirty blonde woman while the brunette polished her knife, still stained with Bellamy's blood. After the two pulled away from the hug, the tall general stared at them warily, but with no trace of hatred in her eyes. Raven observed how the three women interacted with each other and felt a pang of jealousy stir up in her stomach.

   "So," the commander started to say, putting away her knife and looking at them almost relaxed. "now that the conditions are established, I'll send a small party to your camp to make sure everything is how it's supposed to be. Expect them tomorrow, after noon."

   Wells nodded, but then a thought came up to his mind. "We could use a doctor, too. Some of us are starting to get sick because of the cold weather, and Bellamy is injured."

   When he mentioned Bellamy, Raven wanted to slap him. The look of anger in the commander's eyes and in the general's ones was so explicitly saying that they just wanted to kill him slowly and painfully, that Raven thought the boy had just gotten them killed. Instead, she saw the woman clench her jaw, throw a glance at Clarke and then sigh subtly, nodding.

   "We'll send a couple healers to look after your sick people, and... _Bellamy_."

   After a quick goodbye, the two Skaikru went for a swift retreat, opting to drag Octavia away from Lincoln since the girl didn't seem willing to move anytime soon. Now, they just had to tell the others that the grounders weren't the enemies anymore, and hope that they would accept the commander's conditions.

   Easier said than done.

 

***

 

   "Well, that went better than I thought." Clarke said, smiling like a fool.

   She couldn't believe her luck, seriously. All in one day, she was free, her mother had been great, her woman was finally here, and nobody had had to die for it. Definitely a good day.

   "If I'm being honest, I thought you would come here and kill them all." she turned to throw a smirk at Anya. "You behaved extremely well, today, nomon."

   "Oh, shut up, Little Star. Come here." the general smiled widely and pulled her daughter in for another hug, sighing contentedly in her hair. "You scared me to death, you know?" she whispered, holding back her tears of relief.

   The blonde sniffled against her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

   After a few more seconds she let go of her mother and turned to face Lexa, that was already looking at her with a sweet smile on her lips and a twinkle in her forest green eyes. The commander opened her arms and Clarke happily stepped in her hug, throughly enjoying the warmth and familiarity of the body pressed against hers. Lexa buried her face in the blonde's hair and inhaled her scent, tightening her arms around her waist as if to trap her there and never let her go. And she would have been ok with that.

   "I missed you." the brunette whispered in her ear, her voice slightly shaky. "I missed you so much, Clarke. I love you."

   Clarke almost cried. It was so freeing, so amazing to hear those words again, to hear that voice saying them to her. To breath in that scent, to see that face. God, she loved her. "I missed you too, every day. I think I drove everyone crazy with how much I always complained." they both let out a small chuckle, without breaking the hug.

   Anya snorted behind them, making them smile like two idiots in love. Which they actually were.

   "I love you too, Lex. I don't want to be apart from you ever again." she murmured in the woman shoulder.

   "That can be arranged. And I surely wouldn't mind."

   Feeling her heart swelling with warmth and love and happiness, Clarke pulled away, without actually ending the hug. With her right arm still around Lexa's neck, she slowly and lovingly started tracing the outline of her lover's face with her free hand. Her delicate touches caused the commander to close her eyes, savoring the sweetness of her woman's fingers following the lines of her warpaint before cupping her cheek. When her eyes opened, green met blue and they were whole again.

   "Let's go home." one of them whispered. They didn't know who actually said those words but it didn't matter. _They_ were each other's home, and if they were together, any place was good.

 

***

 

   When they actually managed to pull away from the hug, Anya was looking at them with an arched eyebrow and a happy smirk. They ignored her teasing, and Lexa helped Clarke to get on her horse without further hurting her leg. Once she was settled, the brunette jumped behind her and rested her left arm around her waist. Clarke immediately intertwined their fingers and both let out a happy sigh.

   "Spirit, now I'll have to see these two idiots sending kisses to each other all the time." Anya muttered, the teasing smirk still on her lips. She sighed dramatically. "Why me?" Clarke chuckled, planting a swift kiss on Lexa's cheek, making her smile like a fool and actually proving her mother's point. "Here they are. I knew it." Anya teased them.

   "I love you too, nomon." Clarke smiled.

   The general huffed, her eyes soft. She exchanged a glance with Lexa, then both shrugged and smiled.

   "Whatever."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope it was up to your espectations.
> 
> Next Chapter: Wells tells the delinquents about the truce and a lot of fluff to recover form the last few chapters.
> 
> Till next time!


	13. What Were You Doing Awake?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa has a nightmare and Wells tells the delinquents about the truce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys, sice the last few chapters were kinda heavy, here for you a light one. Just some fluff and Wells' little speech.
> 
> Note: I don't think I've ever described them, but Clarke's tattoos are two (for now) both tribal-like. One smaller on her right hip, and one on her left shoulder that goes from her collarbone to the middle of her upper arm. Thin black lines. Just so you know.
> 
> Now, enjoy!

 

   That night, after having seen the healers - Costia literally launched at her, hugging the blonde tightly and scolding her for scaring them all - that had cleaned up the wound on her leg and the scratch on her arm, Clarke had finally been able to sleep. Properly. She had wanted to take a bath, but Lexa could see how tired she already was and assured her she would have had one ready in the morning. So Clarke happily collapsed on the furs and passed out.

   No more than a couple hours later, though, she woke up. Even if she was so tired, she could subconsciously sense that something was wrong. Something moved against her body and she jumped awake, immediately feeling a hand on her hip.

   "Clarke? Are you ok? Is it your leg, do you need me to go wake a healer?"

   Lexa's worried voice acted like a balm, soothing her in a matter of seconds. She felt her body relax, warmth flooding her chest with a sense of safety, and she shook her head. "I just... nothing. Let the healers sleep." she murmured, only slightly confused, turning so she could bury her face in the crook of her lover's neck. She inhaled her scent and sighed contentedly, then asked quietly: "What were you doing awake?"

   "I wasn't awake. How is your leg?" Lexa asked her again, and this time she sounded upset, even if she was clearly trying to hide it.

   "My leg's fine, stop deflecting." the blonde murmured in the woman's skin, trying not to get distracted by the warmth of her hug, or the hand soothingly rubbing her back. Clarke sighed and propped herself up on an elbow to look at her best friend's eyes, that were glistening with unshed tears. The brunette immediately mimicked her position, keeping her left hand on her hip in a comforting manner. Clarke gently cupped her cheek and used her thumb to wipe away a single tear that had managed to escape. She whispered: "What were you doing awake?"

   Lexa gulped and sniffled quietly, her eyes fixated on the space between their bodies rather than the blonde's eyes. "Nothing, go back to sleep. You need it."

   "Lex."

   Sniffle. "I don't want to keep you up, you're tired. We can talk about it in the morning, I promise."

   "Lex." Clarke put her index finger under the brunette's chin to gently make her lift her eyes. She smiled sweetly at the girl. "Just, tell me? Please?"

   "But-"

   "Lex." the blonde could literally feel her heart swelling with love at the fact that her girlfriend was so thoughtful, that she would put her sleep and tiredness before her own needs. She was the damn sweetest person in the world, no doubt. "I passed out before because I was way too tired, but now that I have slept for a while I know I won't be able to sleep again if I know that something's bothering you. Stop being so sweet, and tell me. Please."

   Lexa hesitated for a second, but then Clarke saw her eyes swelling with tears and her bottom lip tremble, and her heart broke a bit. She just wanted her to feel better, she couldn't bare to see her this sad. It was heart-wrenching.

   The brunette took a long, wet, steeling breath and gulped quietly, swallowing her tears. "I'm sorry I woke you up, but I had a nightmare and I needed to feel that you're ok."

   Clarke hummed sweetly, encouraging her to continue. "What was the nightmare about?"

   A few salted tears started rolling down the brunette's cheeks and she slowly captured them with her thumb, caressing the girl's face in the process to sooth her. "You." she gulped again, biting her plump bottom lip. "I... I dreamt that I got here too late, I couldn't reach the bridge in time and- and he had you. And he said- he said that it was my fault, and then he just shot you and I couldn't move..."

   "Oh, Lex." Clarke just couldn't help herself anymore, she couldn't see her like this. She closed the gap - already pretty much non-existent - and hugged her with everything she had, burying her nose in her chestnut, wavy hair. She could feel the girl's hands holding onto her shirt, fisting it with a desperate need to keep her near. "I love you, Lex. Please don't blame yourself, you saved me."

   She didn't get an answer, and she didn't need one. For both of them, this moment they were sharing meant more than all the words in the world. After a few minutes Lexa was already considerably calmer, and Clarke was so proud of her, she was always _so strong_. The blonde wiped away the tears on her cheeks and left a quick kiss on the tip of her nose, making both girls chuckle in the darkness of the night. The few lanterns still alight were projecting a reddish light on the pair, making Clarke's hair look like it was on fire, and Lexa's eyes resemble a burning forest.

   Clarke dropped her hand on the brunette's chest, playing with the blue little stone in Lexa's necklace. "What else?" she asked.

   "What?"

   "Lexa," she gently scolded her. "you know that I know when something's going on in your mind."

   "Hmm." the girl let out a light sigh and lowered her eyes. "You're right."

   "I always am."

   Lexa's giggle was the most precious thing in the world and Clarke all but melted at the sound. She had missed her so much, she felt like she could burst with happiness.

   "You know, when I heard that you were missing," her girlfriend murmured, meeting her eyes. "I was desperate. So scared and mad at everything." she took a deep breath, fidgeting with the hem Clarke's shirt. "I took off immediately, I had to do something. The thing is, all the time I couldn't stop thinking."

   "About what?" the blonde gently asked, distractly twirling the blue pendant with her fingers.

   "About you. Well, about all the things I love about you. And I..." she gulped down her tears before they could reach her eyes once again. "I couldn't help but think, 'what if I never get to tell her again how much I love her? What if never get to tell her how beautiful she is when she's grumpy in the morning, or how I could die just by watching her sleep?'" The girl's breath was quick, and Clarke immediately rested a hand flat on her chest, making her calm down right away. She encouraged her to continue with a nod. "I mean, I could have never gotten the chance to see you again." Lexa whispered, her voice broken. "I feel like everything could slip away between my fingers at any moment now." she sighed heavily and sadly. "I had forgotten how it felt during war."

   "Hey, I know." Clarke cupped her cheek again, slowly and gently moving a loose strand of dark hair away from her love's beautiful face. "I know that feel, too. I was deadly scared all the time during war, but _now_ " she purposefully stressed the last word to get the message clear. "now we are at peace. The clans work together, and while with the Skaikru everything is still fresh and weird..." the little giggle that left Lexa's mouth at her use of the word 'weird' speaking of the sky people was like air for the drowning man, and she basked in it for a moment, committing it to memory. She continued with a small smile. "I'm sure things will get better now. We formed a truce with them. We're at peace, Lex. At _peace_."

   She could almost see the girl's mind run behind her eyes. She knew that Lexa was always trying to silently protect the people she loved, and sometimes she would get a little over her head. She couldn't help but find it admirable and, let's admit it, it was kinda cute, too. At the end, the brunette nodded slightly with a little smile tugging at her lips, and she hummed.

   "You're right. Like always."

   "Hmm, maybe sometimes you can be right, too." the blonde joked.

   "Wow."

   There was a moment of silence, then both of them started to laugh, too damn happy to be together again. It was like being themselves again, as if apart they couldn't breath, or think properly, and now that they were reunited, they were finally a whole again. And by the Gods, were they happy about it.

   Clarke sweetly bumped her nose with Lexa's, and they smiled foolishly. A second later, the blonde felt a hand behind her neck and Lexa kissed her. It was just like the first time. No, better. It was better than the last time, the first, and all the times in between put together. It was like flying in the air, like swimming in a familiar lake, like running home after a long time. It was what love tasted like. Lexa's long fingers slowly descended along her spine, resting gently on her back, while Clarke's hand disappeared in the girl's dark mane. God, had they missed that. After a while they both had to breath, the kiss slowly came to an end, and they stared at each other lovingly, smiling and whispering their love in the night. Soon enough, Clarke's eyes were drooping, the tiredness of the last few days catching up with her body.

   "You're tired. We should sleep." Lexa whispered against her lips.

   She hummed, too tired to even try to disagree, and let herself fall in the furs, tugging Lexa down with her and resting her head on her shoulder. The brunette wordlessly took her injured leg and pulled it up, making it rest on her own stomach to relieve some pressure from the wound. The blonde smiled and thanked her quietly, snuggling closer. The other girl just hugged her tightly, leaving a feather-like kiss on her hair.

   "Good night, Lex." Clarke mumbled, kissing briefly the brunette's cheek.

   "Good night, Little Star."

   Both of them were asleep in a matter of minutes.

 

***

 

   The second time Lexa woke up, the sun was gently lightening the inside of the tent by a few intruding rays, and she could smell the wet, fresh fragrance of the early morning air. She sighed sleepily, listening to the little sounds of the village. The commander could feel something tickling her nose and opened her eyes, smiling at the sight of bright yellow curls. It was the first time in weeks that she got to wake up with a face full of blonde hair, and she couldn't be happier. Lexa hugged the girl tighter and buried her nose in the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent, and then smiling like an idiot. But she couldn't help it, she was happy. She basked in the feeling of Clarke's warmth pressed against her, of her leg still on her stomach and her hand fisting her shirt. Lexa didn't move, wanting to let her lover sleep for a while longer, until finally she felt the blonde move and mumble.

   Lexa smiled even wider, leaving a trail of gentle kisses all the way up from the girl's neck to her ear. "Good morning, love."

   Clarke hummed happily, a sweet smile on her lips. "Good morning. Can you wake me up like this everyday from now on?"

   The brunette chuckled against her lover's skin, feeling her chest expand with affection and happiness. "Of course I can."

   "Good."

   They stayed in bed for another few minutes, just enjoying each other's company and relaxing. When she heard the village really starting to wake up, Lexa told the blonde to rest while she prepared the bath, as promised. Obviously, the girl complained about not wanting her to move but in the end she convinced her to let go of her shirt so she could get up. It didn't take long to fill the tub, the small bathroom separated from the bedroom and the main room of the tent by a heavy curtain. Once she had placed everything that someone could need during a bath and the tub was filled with hot water, she went to get Clarke. The girl was almost asleep again, her face pressed in Lexa's pillow, that she was hugging.

   Lexa smiled to herself and gently shook her awake. "Clarke."

   "Hmm."

   "Clarke, love, the bath is ready." she brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her eyes. "Come on."

   After a few seconds the woman sighed and grumpily got up, following her in the bathroom. Only when they were both immersed in the hot water, Lexa's lips sweetly tracing the thin, black lines of the tattoo Clarke had on her left shoulder, starting from her collarbone and slowly kissing her way down her arm, the blonde mood went to perfectly happy once again. She really just didn't like to get up.

   They stayed in the water for a long time, gently washing each other's hair, Lexa always super careful not to hurt her. For the moment, they were just two girls in love, and all their problems seemed to have disappeared.

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "So, basically, we got a truce."

   Everyone in the camp stared at him blankly, almost never blinking.

   When finally Wells, Raven and Octavia had arrived at the camp, people were already panicking because of Bellamy's conditions, and they were afraid that a war was about to happen. They had to yell and shout and growl to make everyone shut up and gather in front of the Dropship. Shortly after that, Wells had been told that they had lost all contacts with the Ark, suddenly. Things were getting messy, he could feel it, but right now he needed to make the delinquents understand that they had a precarious truce, and that they needed to cherish it.

   "They almost killed Bellamy and you made a truce with them?!" a boy somewhere in the crowd yelled, followed by murmurs of consent.

   "Yes! I did!" Wells yelled back, then he pointed a finger to Bellamy, who was laying there, whining. "Most of us consider him the strongest of us all. And he probably is. And yet, look at him now!" almost a hundred heads turned toward the boy, their eyes worried. "One woman did this to him. With a _knife_! He had a hostage and a gun ready to fire, but she kicked his ass! Just like that!"

   "What's your point?!" the random guy asked again.

   "My point?" Wells breathed deeply to maintain some sort of control over himself. "My point is that _one_ person did this to him. They are _thousands_. We wouldn't stand a chance against them all, and now the only one who actually knows how to use a rifle can't use it because his shoulder is fucked. We need this truce. If we don't take this chance, we're dead."

   A heavy silence fell on the crowd, and the boy sighed deeply, preparing himself for 'the speech'.

   "Listen, everyone." he started, nervously. "Both we and the grounders did things that we shouldn't have. They killed a few of us, we kidnapped and tortured a few of them." Wells breathed, waiting for oppositions. When nobody complained, he continued. "We learned that the blonde grounder we took is not only a Griffin," a few murmurs spreaded in the crowd, but it quieted after a few seconds. "she is an extremely important figure for the grounders, too. They were ready to go to war and wipe us all out to get her back."

   "Why didn't they?" a girl with red hair asked with a scared frown.

   "Because we made a deal." Wells answered. "Their commander, she gave us a list of conditions. If we accept them, we're done. We have peace."

   "Why should we trust them?" another boy asked. "They're savages, they'll betray us the first chance they get!"

   "Listen to me, ok?" Wells almost pleaded them. "I talked to them. They admitted that they don't actually want a war. The last one they faced was less than a year ago, they want a truce as much as we do."

   "Alright," Raven said, stepping forward. "let's say that we actually accept the truce. What are the conditions? What do we have to do?"

   "Ok, so." The dark skinned boy took a moment to remember all the things the commander had told him during the meeting. "They're reasonable, really. We have to share our technology, and our knowledge of it. We have to ask for permission every time we want to cross a border, we have to hunt only where they say we can, when they say we can. We have to stay away from Mount Weather, and we have to get the Ark to acknowledge the truce and to respect it." that was a problem now, though, seeing that they couldn't contact the council. "We have to accept a few of their laws, like that murder, or theft, and other things will be severely punished. And we have to agree to use guns only for emergency."

   A stunned silence enveloped the crowd, and for several moments nobody said anything. Then, everyone started talking at the same time, complaining and shouting their dislike for the conditions.

   "Guys, guys!" Wells yelled at the top of his lungs, silencing them after a minute. "I understand that you don't like it. Really. But you have to see that it won't be a one side thing. They will help us, too."

   "How?" someone asked.

   "Think about it." the boy said, doing his best to sound convincing. "We found, like, ten blankets in that bunker. We're almost a hundred, they're not enough! The grounders can give us furs. Some of us are suffering the cold, they have doctors that could help us. They know the place, they know which lakes are safe and which are occupied by snakes. Ask Octavia!"

   The girl looked away when the stares became too heavy, but nodded nonetheless. "That would actually be useful." she muttered.

   "Right, see?" Wells looked everyone in the eyes, trying to convince them that the truce was indeed the better choice. "And the fog, remember the acid fog? It took us by surprise. Trina and Pascal died because of it, Atom died because of it. They have scouts who warn everyone with a horn if the fog is coming too close. They will warn us too. Come on."

   He held back his triumphant smirk when a soft murmur of assent started spreading through the crowd, getting louder and louder. When he met Raven's eyes, the girl smirked and subtly showed him a thumb up, making him smile internally, relieved.

   "Good. So we have a truce. Good." Wells scratched the back of his neck, pondering his next words. "Because they'll be here this afternoon." the murmur stopped abruptly and everyone stared at him. "To check that we're doing... what we have to. But! They're bringing healers! And maybe some food, too!"

   The only answer to that was Raven's snort, masked by a sudden coughing attack.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated and I answer to all of them!
> 
> Thanks for all the support with this story! :)
> 
> Next Chapter: Raven and Finn have an important talk, Anya pays a visit to the delinquents, and Clexa visit their special place.


	14. Then We Have A Truce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few important talks, the grounders visit the Dropship and some Clexa fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with chap 14!  
> I know you've been waiting for a few things, and I hope this will be up to your expectations!  
> Enjoy!

 

   "We need to talk."

   Finn turned to look at Raven, who had an extremely serious expression on her face and her arms crossed. The boy furrowed his brow, slightly worried, but nodded anyway.

   "Ok." he said, and followed the girl behind a tent, where they could have a little more privacy. "What happened?"

   "I can't go on." the brunette blurted out, looking at her feet.

   The boy stood there dumbfounded. "What?"

   She raised her brown eyes and looked at him straight in the face, swallowing a lump in her throat. "I can't go on like this, Finn. I can't keep pretending. I won't do it."

   He shook his head, feeling sick in the stomach. "Pretending what? What are you trying to tell me?"

   "I'm breaking up with you." Raven said, looking confident, but her eyes gave her away. She was hurt, she saw things from a different perspective. Seeing how Clarke interacted with the commander at the bridge had made her realize that _that_ was what she wanted. She needed to do what was best for herself. "I know that you're not in love with me."

   "What are you talking about?" he asked, starting to panick. "Raven, I love you."

   "But you're not in love with me. There's a difference. I knew it already, I did for a while, but I just wouldn't admit it. I was deluding myself." Finn wasn't able to form any word while the girl in front of him sighed heavily, freeing herself from that lie she had been telling to herself. "I know you never really saw me like that. You used to tell me that we're family, and we are. But it's nothing more than that for you. You were never really in love with me."

   He shook his head, frantically trying to find the words to stop it, to stop her from leaving him. "No, Raven, that's not true, I do lov-"

   "No. Don't." she interrupted him, doing her best to contain the tears but failing miserably. "Don't try to deny it. I know it for sure, Finn. Please, don't insult my intelligence by lying to me."

   Finn let out a shaky breath, lowering his eyes in shame, but at the end he nodded. "I never meant to hurt you." the boy whispered. "I didn't want to lose you, I do love you Raven."

   The girl nodded to herself, sniffling, and then rubbing her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. "I know." she paused for a few seconds, regaining control of her breath. "You said her name. The other day, when we were... you know." she looked down at her feet again. "You said her name."

   Finn swallowed painfully, desperately trying to come up with something, anything, to fix this friendship. He needed it, the girl was too important to him. "Raven, I... I'm sorry."

   "I don't want your apology." Raven snapped, raising her gaze to fixate it in the boy's eyes. "I don't want it. I want you to be careful, though. I don't think that the commander will be happy to know that you got a crush on her girlfriend, so try not to screw this truce up with some asshole move. Not everything resolves around you."

   The boy wanted to reply that the commander had no rights to tell him who he could crush on, but suppressed that idea the second it formed in his mind. Instead he nodded, knowing very well that he had to be careful now that Clarke's girlfriend had come into the picture. But he would think about that later. "I'll do my best not to screw it up, Raven. I want this peace too, I know it is important."

   "Good."

   With that last word, Raven turned her back at him and started to walk away, wanting nothing more than to to be alone for a while, to process everything before the grounder's party arrived. A second later, though, a hand grabbed her elbow and tugged, making her turn on herself to face the boy.

   "Wait, Raven. We're still best friends, right?" he asked, his eyes wide and scared. "I mean, we're still family, right?"

   The girl sighed, not meeting his eyes, and shook her head slightly. "I'm not saying no, Finn. But I need some time for myself, now. I need to move on. Maybe someday, we'll be back to how we were before this mess."

   Finn could only watch her walk away, hopelessly wishing that she would come back. That she would tell him that they were, indeed, still a family. He really never meant to hurt her, and even if he was never in love with the girl, he wanted her to be happy so he had pretended. He had told her that he loved her, had asked her to be his girlfriend. He would have been anything she wanted him to be, just to make her happy. But now, things were slipping away, he couldn't control his emotions, he had done things that he couldn't forgive himself for. He had carelessly hurt Raven, completely disregarding her feelings, all because he was crushing on the wrong girl.

   A nagging sense of guilt was now choking him, and before he could stop them, salty tears started rolling down his cheeks. He had something that he loved, something important, and he had lost it. And it was his fault. She was everything he had. Finn started sobbing, and after a few seconds he found himself on the ground, knees held against his chest, crying like a baby. Wishing that nothing would have happened. That he would wake up and be back in his room on the Ark, when things were still simple.

 

    _TonDC_

 

   "Are you decent?"

   Clarke rolled her eyes when Anya's voice reached them from outside the tent entrance, followed by a chuckle.

   "No." she shouted in response, earning a snort from Lexa.

   They heard a: "Oh, shit." from Anya and a very loudly whispered: "How I _envy_ you." from Costia, that made them both laugh like children. "The worst part is, I can't tell if she's serious." the general said, not entering the tent.

   "Uh, I don't know." Costia muttered. "You go first, I walked in on them once, I really don't want to relive the experience. My head still hurts."

   "Oh, please." Lexa chuckled, before raising her voice. "Come in. We're decent."

   "If you say so."

   After a few seconds, the general and the healer carefully walked in, sighing in relief when they found them sitting at the table quietly eating breakfast from the same plate. Both were wearing leather pants and a warm shirt, had the hair still wet and loose, but while Lexa had her boots on, Clarke had preferred to stay barefoot. She had missed it, the peace she felt when walking around without shoes, listening to Lexa's voice and breathing in her scent. It was refreshing.

   "Are we decent enough for you?" the blonde asked with a grin, biting down on her apple. Lexa just smirked, thinking about the relaxing bath they shared a few minutes ago.

   "Uh-uh." Anya waved her index finger in front of them, narrowing her eyes. "Lexa's smirking. We both know what that means."

   "Please," Costia chimed in, stealing a grape from the plate. "Lexa smirks all the time when she's with Clarke."

   "True."

   "Shut up." the commander mumbled, smirk still in its place.

   Clarke smiled, shaking her head at her family's childish behavior, before pushing the plate towards the centre of the table with her free hand, a silent invitation for the two women to eat with them. Anya gladly accepted, leaving a kiss on top of the blonde's head before taking a seat and grabbing some fruit.

   "So, I would really like to steal more of your food," Costia said, glancing longingly at the fruit-filled plate. "but sadly I'm only here to check on you, Clarkey."

   The blonde rolled her eyes. "You do realize that I'm a healer too, right?"

   "Shut up and take off your pants."

   "How dare you."

 

***

 

   It took it less than five minutes for Costia to check on the blonde's injuries, and after she said that they were all healing nicely, both the general and the commander let out a relieved breath that they didn't know they were holding. A few more stolen grapes later, the healer had told them she needed to prepare for the visit at the Skaikru camp and left with a wave of her hand.

   The three of them had been silent for a minute, then Lexa asked: "When do you leave?"

   Anya shrugged, peeling a banana and then biting it viciously. "In a few hours, the party is getting ready now."

   Clarke swallowed a grape. "Wait, we're not going?" she asked, turning her head to look at Lexa.

   The woman shook her head. "No, you need to rest. They can deal with this on their own." she said softly, hooking a loose strand of wet, blonde hair behind the girl's ear.

   "Yeah, but-"

   "No buts, Clarke." Lexa interrupted her with a finger against her lips. "You need to rest, and I'm going to have you all to myself today."

   The blonde smiled sweetly, and the three women resumed their breakfast chatting quietly about the sky people. After a few minutes, though, Anya sighed heavily and folded her hands on the table, tormenting her bottom lip with her teeth. "I don't think I should go today." she said quietly.

   The other two stared at her seriously. "Why not?" Lexa asked.

   "I'm not... I shouldn't go. I don't trust myself with them." the woman blurted out, not looking at them. "They held my daughter hostage, shot her and used her as a thing to trade for supplies. The only thing I want to do with them is burn them alive."

   "Mom..." Clarke whispered, grabbing the older woman's hand over the table. "It was only a bunch. The others helped me, and wanted to let me go the moment I stepped in their camp. Not all of them are like that."

   "I know but..." Anya shook her head slightly. "I can't forget what some of them did. I cannot forgive them, not yet." _Not ever_ , she thought.

   "Anya." Lexa chimed in, looking absolutely like Heda even with her hair damp and down and no armor on. "You are my most trusted general. Of course I want _you_ to go. You may not trust yourself but I do. You'll do what you have to."

   Anya sighed heavily once again, knowing that the commander's words were to be respected. "Something I should know before I leave?"

   "Uhm, let me think." Clarke grabbed her girlfriend's hand and started playing with her fingers, thinking about anything important that she could tell her mother about the Skaikru. Her mother. _Oh!_ "I, ehm... I think you should know that they made me talk with... uh... Jake and Abby."

   A stunned silence filled the tent, and the blonde couldn't help but notice the stiff posture of her mother's body, and the way her eyes were narrowed suspiciously. She felt Lexa's hand tighten around hers, letting her know that she was there for her.

   "Oh."

   "We didn't talk for long, really." she explained. "And it was more awkward than anything else. I think they're coming down soon, Jake said that their people was reading the ships or something."

   Anya stared at her hands for a few seconds, then sighed and nodded, humming slightly. "I can live with that. As long as they don't try anything weird with you."

   At that, Clarke just laughed, relieved that the woman wasn't mad or anything else. She was just ready to fight for her daughter in case her biological parents would try and claim some sort of parental rights over the blonde. Still laughing slightly, she got up fighting back a grimace - damn leg - and went to sit in her mother's lap, hugging her tightly, her arms thrown around the older woman's neck. Anya immediately hugged her back, humming quietly next to her ear.

   "Don't worry, nomon. You're still my favorite person after Lexa." she said, smiling.

   "You little-" Anya huffed, pretending to be offended while Lexa looked smug.

   "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You're both my favorite persons."

   "Better. Hey Lexa," Anya blurted out, suddenly, a stupid smile taking place on her lips, brightening her whole face. For now, she pushed her problem with the sky people to the back of her mind. "guess what."

   "What?" Lexa asked with a smile.

   "Clarke said I'm the best nomon _ever_!" the general stated happily, practically swelling with pride.

   Clarke groaned, facepalming. "I can't believe it."

   Lexa started giggling, her green eyes shining. "Really, Clarke? I'm impressed, you know."

   "I can't do this." Clarke mumbled with a smile.

   "I mean, 'best nomon ever' is quite the title, you must be really proud of her."

   "I know, right?" Anya laughed.

   "Spirit help me." the blonde whispered. "I'm surrounded by children."

   "How come I didn't know about it, though?" Lexa kept teasing her, barely holding back her smirk. "It's a big new."

   "I have no idea." Clarke huffed, waving a hand in the air. "I'm pretty sure everyone from here to Azgeda already knows it by now, she's been telling anyone who was near enough to hear her."

   Anya gasped, mocking her. "Of course I have! I'm so damn proud!"

   "Yeah, I can see that." Lexa finally started chuckling, her eyes squeezed slightly and a hand on her mouth, stifling her laugh.

   Clarke groaned again, hiding her face in her mother's shoulder, not moving from her lap. "Why are you two like this. This is all Costia's fault, she just can't keep her mouth shut."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   "Ok, guys. They'll be here any moments now." Wells sighed deeply, rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans. God, he was nervous. "Try to come off as welcoming, please. We need those people."

   "Hey, Wells." he turned to see Octavia, swiftly walking towards him and stopping next to the boy, hands deep in her jacket's pockets. "Have you seen Raven? I can't find her."

   "Last time I saw her she was walking away with Finn, this morning." he said, shrugging.

   The young brunette frowned, her blue eyes quickly scanning the ground over the gate, clearly waiting for her pretty grounder to arrive. Wells smiled at the thought. At least two of them were in good terms with each other.

   "Oh, by the way, Bellamy's still complaining and I think Murphy's about to kill him to shut him up." the girl mumbled, rolling on her feet.

   The dark skinned boy sighed, taking a mental note to send someone else to guard Bellamy as soon as possible. Poor Murphy, he thought, Wells would have been one step away from killing him too in his position. "Well, ok, but a doctor is coming and-"

   "GUYS! GUYS THEY'RE HERE!" a sentinel shouted, alerting the others.

   Both Wells and Octavia bolted into action, yelling at the paralyzed guards to - Octavia's words - 'open the damn gate'. Everyone in the camp was frozen on the spot, some petrified, some were anxious, and a few were excited. For a few, long moments, nothing happened. Then a woman on a horse came out from the treeline, followed by another, and another, and soon a small group of grounders was riding slowly and carefully through the gate. Wells recognized Anya right away, she was the one on the lead. Right behind her was a young blonde girl, not older than thirteen. The general calmly looked at her surrounding, scowling slightly. When the horse came to a stop in the midst of the camp, the woman jumped down with ease, soon followed by the others.

   "Yeah, she's a badass, isn't she?"

   "Shit!" Wells blurted out, jumping, his terrified heart beating wildly in his chest. When he turned he saw Raven, standing next to him with a sad look on her face. Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks were also red, and the boy immediately understood that something was terribly wrong with the girl. He made another mental note to ask the girl about it after the grounders had left the camp. He sighed, slightly calmer. "Yeah, she's a badass." he patted himself on the shoulder when the smallest smile bended Raven's lips. Returning the attention on the guests, Wells cleared his throat and, trying to look confident, walked towards the general.

   He extended his arm - he had learned their greetings thing at the bridge - and grabbed the woman's forearm, saying: "Welcome to the Dropship, general."

   "Thank you." the woman said, seriously. "So this is where you live?"

   "Yeah, hum... We came down from space in that. It's home, for now." When he saw Anya's little nod, he sighed internally, anxious but exited at the same time. "The commander isn't with you, today?" he carefully asked, trying not to sound disrespectful.

   "No." Anya said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, looking bored and tense. "Too risky for someone in her position. But if I tell her that everything is good, later today, she will be here within days."

   "Well then, we'll be honored to have her as our guest." Wells said, sincerely.

   He liked the commander so far, at the bridge she had been reasonable and - within limits - understanding. At the end of the day, it was her the one who was giving them a chance to live onto her lands. She had the means and the power to wipe them out, but she didn't and instead she had gifted them with a chance. So yes, he liked her. After only an hour in her presence, Wells already knew that she was a way better leader than his own father. Anya smiled - barely - probably thanks to the honest glint in his dark brown eyes, and then said something in her weird language to the people behind her, and immediately a small bunch of them stepped forward, starting to search the camp.

   "It won't take them long." the general assured him. "They only have to make sure that this is not a trap."

   A little while later, the camp was deemed safe and both Wells and Anya let out a relieved sigh. The boy was about to speak, when the woman in front of him took a deep breath.

   "So, Wells of the Sky People, does you people accept the commander's conditions?" she asked in a formal tone, standing taller and practically towering over him.

   Doing his best to appear just as confident, Wells straightened his back and said, in the strongest voice he could muster: "We accept."

   "Then we have a truce."

 

***

 

   After that, things got a whole lot less awkward. The grounders had actually brought a few things. Since Wells had explained the delinquents situation during the meeting at the bridge, they had brought blankets made with a few different materials, so to please everyone. A few were in wool, some in fur, and some looked like they once were heavy curtains. They had also brought food, there was salted meat and vegetables. Wells had to hold back a triumphant smirk and a lot of: "I told you so" when he saw the amazed looks in the delinquents eyes. A lot of them were still weary of the grounders, but with time, he was sure they were gonna change their minds. Octavia was nowhere to be seen, as well as Lincoln, and Wells and Anya were busy telling everyone what to do.

   Meanwhile, Costia and Nyko were roaming the camp, helping the few sick ones and the ones that had got injuries. When Costia got to Bellamy, the boy looked at her with wary eyes at first, but after she had splinted his leg - it was almost broken, another kick or even a fall and it was fucked - he was actually a little friendlier. When she patched his wounded shoulder up, too, he passed away from exhaustion. Costia let him, she had other things to do, but she made sure to leave a guy to keep an eye on him in case he woke up.

   Before leaving, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath: "Just pray you never have to meet Anya again."

 

***

 

   Outside, Anya was done giving orders and was now staring at the Dropship. She heard Tris say something about going to talk to someone and she nodded, a thought slowly creeping up in her mind. She narrowed her eyes and started walking towards the metal box.

   The insides were weird, the lights were strange and were hurting her eyes and the light smell of metal was annoying. She remembered what Clarke had told her about this Dropship, so she slowly climbed the stairs, going up. She met only a few persons in the second level, and looking at them she smirked. The one she wanted wasn't there. That meant that he was on the third level, probably alone. Or almost alone. The moment she popped out her head into the room, she knew she was right. Bellamy was laid down in some sort of blanket nest, his leg had been splinted, sign that a healer had already seen him, and a bandage covered his right shoulder. He widened his eyes almost comically at the sight of her, and swallowed fearfully.

   The other person was a boy, lean, with light brown hair and a really annoyed expression on his face. Anya recognized him, he was at the bridge.

   "Get out." she told him, her voice cold and commanding.

   Murphy fidgeted with the hem of his shirt only for a second, before slowly getting up. "Are you planning on killing him?"

   "Sadly, no. Now get out."

   The two stared in each other's eyes for a few more seconds, then the boy nodded and quietly climbed down the ladder, disappearing in the second level with the others.

   The moment they were left alone, Anya fixated her gaze on the boy on the floor. "You're lucky to be alive." she said, slowly stepping closer and closer. "You're lucky you're not one of my people, or I could have asked for your blood for what you did."

   She crouched near the boy, that gulped loudly. To his credit, he didn't look away. He stared back into her eyes, fearful but determined to hold her gaze. "I was doing what I thought was best for my people." he muttered, blinking. He was sweating slightly, his dark, curly hair sticking to his forehead. "What do you want me to say?"

   Instead of answering, Anya grabbed a fist of his wet hair, so fast he didn't even had the time to react. She made him turn his head so he couldn't look away even if her tried, ignoring the little whimper that escaped his troath. "I don't want you to say anything, I want you to listen." she snarled in his face. "This time, I can't ask for your blood because you did what you did before the truce. But I won't forget that you held a gun to my daughter's head so easily." she saw Bellamy's eyes widen when he finally understood his mistake. He hadn't known Clarke was her daughter. "But know this, sky boy. If you so much as make her sad, if I see you doing anything that could even just upset her, if I catch you making _one mistake_ , I will spill your blood. Your fight will be over before you can even think of begging for your life. _Do you understand?_ "

   The dark haired boy nodded, struggling to hold back the whimpers that were rising in his troath because of her vicious grip on his hair. Once she was sure that he had understood what she had said, the general released him, getting up in one fluid movement. She walked back to the ladder, but before starting to climb down, she looked at him with a warning look.

   "Do not forget my words, sky boy."

 

  ///

 

   Murphy was chewing on his fingernails, sat in a corner of level two. He couldn't help but fear that he would have been the next on that grounder's list of people to threaten. He wasn't stupid, he had understood right away, at the bridge, that the woman that was now with Bellamy had a special bond with Clarke. He remembered having that same bond too, with his father. Before he was floated. He wouldn't have been surprised if the woman wanted to beat Bellamy up until he died. But one thought was eating him up from the inside.

   Murphy was the one who had shot Clarke. He shot her. He had helped Bellamy with his crazy plan to blackmail the grounders at the bridge using the girl. And now what? What if Clarke had told the grounders _everything_? That _he_ had shot her? Were they going to kill him, making it look like an accident? The boy huffed, getting up and pacing all the way from one side to the other of level two.

   He was worried, scared. But he wouldn't show it, no. Fear was weakness, he couldn't appear weak, especially now that that grounder was around.

   He could only hope that Clarke had kept some things... hidden.

 

  ///

 

   After her little chat with Bellamy, Anya was trying her best to distract herself from the thought of him. She was one step away from going back in that metal box and killing him. To avoid doing something like that, she decided to examine the technology stuffed in Raven's den, since Tris was somewhere talking with a little blonde girl - Charlie? No, Charlotte - and she actually had some time to take a look.

   "So, how does this work?" the grounder asked to the girl, pointing at the radio with the screen that Clarke had told her about. "You can really talk to people in the space with this?"

   "Yes, actually." Raven wiped her nose with the back of her hand and took a little step forward. "I mean, it doesn't work at the moment, that's why it's here. I tried to fix it when we lost contact with the Ark, but the problem isn't on our side, so there's nothing I can do."

   "Lost contact?" the woman asked, glaring at the device.

   "Yeah." the girl sniffled. "Last time we talked to them was before the bridge."

   "Ah." Anya stayed silent for a while, until the umpteenth sniffle distracted her. "You should go see a healer."

   "Huh?"

   "For your nose."

   Finally connecting the dots Raven chuckled, surprising herself with the sound. "Oh, no it isn't... I'm not sick." she tried to explain.

   Understanding right away, Anya nodded quietly and decided to drop it, returning her attention to the radio. She pointed at it with a finger. "So, it's from here that my daughter spoke to Abby and Jake?"

   "What?" Raven asked, dumbfounded. Her daughter? Who the fuck was her daugh- _oh_. "Wait... you mean... Clarke?"

   "Yes, she told me."

   "No no no, I mean..." she sniffled again, damn nose, damn crying, damn everything. Raven took a steeling breath, still shocked. "Are you saying that Clarke is your daughter?"

   Anya nodded, looking at her seriously for a second, before turning to look again at the radio. "I adopted her when she came down, ten years ago."

    _Oh, Abby's gonna flip._

 

_TonDC_

 

   "Rufus, my love! Oh baby, I missed you so much!"

   Lexa looked as Clarke launched herself at her horse's neck, hugging him tightly. The two-headed black horse whinnied quietly, rubbing his noses on the blonde's head, happy to see her.

   "I swear, sometimes I think you love him more than me." Lexa joked, chuckling. The sight of the girl smiling happily like that was worth everything she had done in her life. She was sure of that.

   Clarke turned toward her, smirking like a bad cat. "Come on, he's so cute."

   "He's a horse."

   "He's still cute."

   "Fine, fine." the brunette relented, a small smile taking place on her lips. "Just, save some kisses for me, if you can. I missed you too, you know."

   "Aw."

   The girl invited her to get closer with an extended hand, that she immediately took, letting herself be pulled near the blonde and her horse. She caressed Rufus's neck with her free hand, her green eyes never leaving Clarke's.

   "I missed you too." the blonde whispered, like it was a secret, then leaned in to kiss her slowly and sweetly, their fingers still intertwined. "Can we go for a ride, now?" she asked smirking, knowing perfectly well what she was going to answer.

   "Clarke, they said you should rest and not overdo it." the commander muttered, her eyes still closed after the kiss.

   "Please, Lex..."

   "I have a better idea. Do you trust me?" green met blue and the world, of only for a moment, stopped.

   "With everything I have."

 

***

 

   When Lexa had said that they were going to their spot, Clarke was so excited she squealed. But she will never admit it. Obviously Lexa had decided to carry her bridal style so that she could rest her leg, and obviously Clarke had wanted to bring Rufus too. Since Rufus was going, Lexa took her white mare, Hera, too. That's how they found themselves walking quietly among the trees, Clarke securely held by the brunette's strong arms, with the two happy horses following them like meek little dogs.

   When they arrived, Lexa gently lowered the blonde to the ground, carefully avoiding to hurt her leg. Both girls smiled, breathing in the familiar scent of their spot. The air was cold, but smelled sweet, like trees and fresh water. The grass under their feet was so green and soft, and there were a few wildflowers, giving a colored touch to the place. A few feet ahead, the little hill started its decline, unfolding towards the trees and the sea. That was the place they would always sneak out to, to go stargazing when they were little. Lexa had found it and had showed it to her best friend as soon as she was healed from the injuries she got by falling from the sky. It had been their spot ever since. There, they used to chat, laugh, cry, play, everything and anything. Most of all, stargazing. It was like a secret place to hide and just be.

   Clarke inhaled deeply the fresh smell of the chilly air, and smiled, her eyes closed. "Oh, I missed this place. This." she whispered.

   "Me too." the brunette sighed, quietly, intertwining their fingers.

   They stood like that, simply enjoying each other's presence, while the two horses behind them relaxed, walking around and nibbling the grass. After a few minutes, Lexa felt a change in the atmosphere, and smiled a little more when she felt Clarke's thumb gently drawing patterns on the back of her hand. She opened her eyes and turned, seeing that the blonde was already staring at her with soft eyes.

   "You're beautiful." the blue-eyed girl breathed out, still staring.

   Lexa could practically feel the heat burning in her cheeks, and she knew she was blushing. Spirit, after all this time, she still blushed. "You're beautiful too. More than ever."

   "But not as beautiful as you."

   "How did a compliment turn into a contest so fast?"

   That made Clarke laugh, like, a full blown laugh, and Lexa felt her heart skip a beat, only to start pounding crazily in her chest a second later. Gods, that sound. Music, one that made her heart ache in the best way possible, gently burning her with a desperate longing. She couldn't hold back the dopey smile, nor the lovestruck gaze. Clarke only shook her head slightly, before pushing Lexa to make her sit on the ground. She fell into her warm embrace, sitting in front of her, between her legs, her back pressed to the brunette's front. Two strong arms circled her waist, holding her tightly. She sighed, content, the soft fur of the collar of Lexa's coat tickling her neck.

   "You're so cute."

   "But you're cuter."

   Clarke laughed again, and Lexa melted, falling deeper in love each time she heard that sound.

 

_The Dropship_

 

   "Wells! Wells, for Christ's sake!"

   The boy heard the voice whisper-shout his name and he turned, pulling his attention away from the grounders that were getting quite comfortable behind the gate. A small group of them would be staying at their camp for a while, to have a way to communicate while they tried to find a permanent solution. Now that the sky was becoming darker, the scouts were building up their tents, just around the skaikru's walls.

   Soon enough, Raven had caught up with him and was now gripping his shoulder urgently.

   "What? Raven, are you ok?" the boy asked worried, seeing that the girl was agitated.

   "You'll never believe what I found out."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Clarke's bond with her horse is basically me with my dog. Hope you liked it. :)
> 
> Feel free to suggest whatever you want to see! Comments and critics are always very welcome!
> 
> Next Chapter: Something falls from the sky, Wells'a really wise friend and our Anya/Clarke/Lexa spend some quality time together.
> 
> Till next time!


	15. Trapped In A Metal Coffin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Exodus arrives to Earth and some bonding time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it took me so long! But I'm back now, so here for you a new chapter!
> 
> Some family fluff and a little plot. Sorry it's a little short. I hope you enjoy it!

 

   "Jake? Jake! Please, wake up! Jake!"

   The man groaned, slowly regaining some consciousness. He tried to open his eyes, but even the faint light of the command room was too much to him. When he tried to move to get up, his head started throbbing angrily, and he could feel a dull ache in his back.

   "What happened?" he managed to ask, taking a look around. The room looked like a psycho had come in and smashed everything with a baseball bat. The air was heavy too, the lack of oxygen making them feel dizzy. Abby, crouched in front of him, was staring at him worriedly.

   "The Exodus launched." she said. "It took a toll on everything else, the Ark blacked out almost everywhere. I think... a lot of people died frozen."

   Jake brought a hand to his closed eyes, trying to cope with the news. After a few seconds he shook himself out of it and slowly got up. "Alright. Let's get to work then." he started, glancing at the others people in the room. "We need to look for survivors, and then," he sighed. "and then we need a plan."

 

    _TonDC_

 

   When Anya got back to the village it was almost dark, and the first thing she did was to barge in her daughter's and Lexa's tent to check on them and share everything about the meeting. Well, maybe not everything, the 'I threatened one of them because he's an asshole' part, that she would probably skip. Problem was, the two girls weren't there. A cold shiver ran through her spine and worry started creeping up in her mind, but she pushed it down. They weren't necessarily in danger, the village was big enough. So she checked the medical tent. Nothing. The throne hut, no trace. She searched the whole damn village, but they were both nowhere to be found.

   The general started sweating. The last time she had come home and not found Clarke, she had been kidnapped. But this time she wasn't alone in a cave. She was in her village, with Lexa. _Lexa_ , who would have died before letting someone take the girl. Of that, she was certain.

   There was only one spot she hadn't checked yet. She could only hope that they had felt nostalgic and had gone there.

 

***

 

   "Noo, it looks like a cat."

   "No way Clarke. Just no. It's a tower."

   "How can you say that's a tower, come on! You're making it up."

   "But it's obvious, just look at it!"

   "Babe, I _am_ looking at it. And it looks like a cat."

   They were still in their spot, laying down side by side, Lexa's right arm around the blonde, that had her head on her shoulder. In the darkening sky there were a few fluffy clouds, and the girls had started pointing out figures hidden in them. A few feet away, Rufus and Hera were interacting playfully, bumping in each other and waving their tails. Lexa sighed, casually toying with a lock of Clarke's hair.

   "I think you're making fun of me. That's a tower."

   The blonde chuckled, playing with the straps of the brunette's coat. "I'm serious, it's a cat. Period."

   The commander could only start laughing, because seriously that was funny. Soon enough the fleimkepa followed her, scrunching up her nose as she laughed. Lexa couldn't help it, she leaned in and kissed the tip of that nose.

   The blonde hummed, content, and grinned. "Does that mean that I won?"

   "No way, Clarke."

   "Uff. You know that I'm right, anyway." the girl huffed, snuggling closer to her girlfriend, pressing against her side.

   The movement caused a stab of pain to run through her right leg. Obviously, being her attentive self, Lexa noticed right away and, glancing at her with worried eyes, scooted a little nearer. Carefully, she grabbed the blonde's leg and brought it up to rest on her lap, like she did the night before. Immediately, a relieved sigh escaped Clarke's lips.

   "Better?" the brunette asked in a whisper.

   The other girl just nodded. After a few seconds of comfortable silence, she smiled and murmured: "Thank you for this."

   "For what?"

   "This day just for ourselves. To be ourselves, and nothing else." she explained, cuddling closer, as if that was even possible.

   Lexa smiled sweetly, happy that her idea had been welcome. She was about to answer, when someone arrived walking fastly, and after a moment they heard a relieved: "There you are. I was worried."

 

***

 

   Fifteen minutes later, Anya was laying down on Clarke's other side, grinning while casually bickering with the other two about the clouds' shapes.

   "Ok, no, you're wrong. That's a goddamn tower."

   "It's a cat!"

   "Where the hell do you see a cat in that?!"

   "Girls, girls! Are you both blind? That's shaped like a throne!"

   "Did you actually eat jobi nuts?"

   "You think you're funny, don't you?"

   They kept their playful banter going for so long, that after a while the clouds had lost their previous shapes and they found themselves just laying there, looking dreamily at the bright stars above them. Clarke was still snuggled against Lexa's side, seeking some warmth since the night was actually pretty chilly, and the brunette was just breathing in her scent, her right hand twirling a lock of blonde hair around a finger. Anya was simply relaxing, her hands under the back of her head as a pillow, and her eyes closed, soaking in the quiet and calm of the late evening. Rufus and Hera were still playing at the treeline, teasing each other like little foals.

   Suddenly, Lexa remembered something and asked, so abruptly that Clarke, still with her head on the girl's chest, jumped startled. "Anya? How did the meeting with the Skaikru go?"

   "Oh, right. I forgot." the general opened her eyes and readjusted her position, turning on her side to see them better. "It went well, they accept your conditions and when my men searched their camp it was clear."

   "Good." the commander murmured, satisfied - and relieved that it wasn't some sort of trap -.

   Clarke turned on her back and rubbed one of her eyes, looking a little tired. "Did they contact their people? Do they accept the truce as well?"

   Anya huffed quietly, shaking her head. "No, they can't." she saw the questioning look the two girls were giving her and continued with a sigh. "They showed me that radio you told me about, Clarke. It looked... I don't know... useless. It wasn't doing anything, and that smart girl told me there's something wrong with it, but it's 'not on their side', so she can't fix it. I don't know what that means, so don't ask. Half the things she said to me I didn't understand, but" she made a resignated movement with her hands. "basically, they can't contact their people."

   Clarke sighed dramatically, letting her head fall on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Well, they're coming down sooner or later, anyway. We're bound to meet them."

   "You don't seem very happy about that." Lexa murmured in her year.

   "Yeah, well" the blonde huffed, shifting to relieve some of the pain in her leg. "I got this feeling that they're going to bring trouble. I don't know why."

   Anya snorted bitterly, her voice getting an angry tone. "Given what only their children already did, I bet they're gonna bring _a lot_ of trouble."

   Lexa hummed quietly, still toying with Clarke's blonde hair. "We can't do anything about it now. We'll deal with them once they're here."

   She had barely finished the phrase that a loud thunder resounded in the air. The two horses behind them immediately stopped playing and were now staring at the fiery object that was falling from the sky. The three woman got up slowly, their eyes never leaving the object that was falling faster and faster towards earth. Clarke was holding tightly Lexa's hand, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

   "Not another one." she murmured.

   "It looks like we won't have to wait for too long to deal with them." Anya muttered, a worried expression on her face.

   They were still staring at that thing, growing more worried each passing second, seeing that the object was still getting faster and showed no sign of slowing down.

   "Is it supposed to be that fast?" Lexa asked suddenly, looking confused.

   "I... I don't know."

   "Maybe it will slow down once it's nearer to the ground."

   "Nearer than _that_?"

   Then, after a few more seconds, the fiery thing crashed on the ground with an explosion, the fire coloring of bright red the clouds and the trees.

 

_The Ark_

 

   Jake wiped the sweat off his forehead and got back to work, connecting wires and studying data. They needed to find out which systems were damaged and repair them, if they wanted the Ark to keep working. He and Sinclair were working restlessly, while Jaha was still unconscious. Abby was helping the injured ones, trying to contain the panic. After hours of work, they heard some movement outside the door, and a little while later Kane, Wick and a small bunch of other survivors entered the command room.

   "Sir!" Kane jumped forward and tried to shake Jaha awake, obtaining only a grunt. "Is he...?"

   "He's ok, just unconscious." Abby chimed in, squeezing the man's shoulder reassuringly.

   "If you manage to wake him up it would be helpful, though." Jake added. "He was an engineer, and we need everyone's help if we want to survive."

   "What do I have to do?"

 

_The Dropship_

 

   "... an so we broke up."

   Wells nodded seriously, Raven's words slowly sinking in his brain. After telling him that Clarke was general Anya's adopted daughter - he almost had a stroke at that, really how was he supposed to tell _Abby_ something like _that_? - Raven had told him about her relationship with Finn. He totally understood why she had felt the need to break up with him, and was glad that she had decided to talk to him about it. It was good to let things out.

   "Well, you did the right thing." he assured her. "It was clearly becoming an unhealthy relationship, so I get why you did it. It was what was better for yourself." he waited a few seconds, until he saw Raven nod, and then asked: "How did Finn take it?"

   The brunette girl sighed heavily, rubbing her nose with a tissue. "I think he cried, but overall he was fine. I mean, he didn't get mad or anything."

   Wells nodded again, slightly relieved. The last thing he needed was a crazy dumped boy running around the camp. Especially now that they had their grounder guests sleeping in the tents near the gate.

   "Can I ask you a favor?" Raven said in a small voice, wiping her red, puffy eyes with the back of a hand.

   "Of course, ask away."

   "Could you talk to him? I tried but I don't think he listened." she cleared her throat and then explained herself. "He got this stupid crush on Clarke. I saw him staring at her, and I was already worried before, but now I know that she's the commander's girlfriend. I'm scared he'll get in trouble because he can't see that she's just way out of his league. He's convinced that he has a chance."

   Wells looked at his own feet for a few seconds, biting his bottom lip. "So, you want me to convince him to... not do anything stupid? To avoid her?"

   "Yeah, basically. Please." the girl gave him a little smile, and he sighed, smiling back.

   "I'll see what I can do. No promises, though."

   "Thank you, Wells."

   "Don't mention it. Now go get some rest." he patted her on the shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze. "You look almost dead right now."

 

***

 

   After not even half an hour, he finally bumped into Finn. The boy looked almost as bad as Raven, his eyes red and puffy and his hair all over the place, a tired expression on his face. Now that he thought about it, Wells hadn't seen the boy all day. He was probably upset.

   "Hey, Finn. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

   The boy just shook his head, brushing him off. "Not now Wells, I need some sleep."

   "It's about Clarke."

 

   Five minutes later they were inside the Dropship, and Finn actually seemed willing to talk after all.

   "So, why do you want to talk about her?" he asked, looking almost insecure.

   Wells sighed heavily, sitting in front of him with his legs crossed. "Raven asked me to. She said you got a crush on Clarke."

   The boy blushed slightly, and masked it by running a hand through his hair and chuckling. "So?"

   "So, she's with the commander already. I think you know that." the dark skinned boy fixated his eyes in the other boy's ones, trying to see through him. "It was pretty obvious at the bridge."

   Finn snorted, looking away from him. "Yeah, I saw. In spite of what all you people think, I wasn't staring at her just because she's pretty. I was looking at _them_."

   "Then you saw. They're obviously very close to each other." Wells said, hoping to make him see that he had - clearly - no chance with the girl.

   "Yeah, so?"

   "So?" he repeated, disbelief written all over his face. "Is that everything you have to say?"

   Finn rolled his eyes, looking slightly annoyed. "They're close, I got it. So? It doesn't mean anything." he adjusted his position and then continued. "They might be close today, but things always change. They might grow apart in a while, and when it happens I'll be there."

   "You... What. Are you serious right now? She's with someone else."

   "I'll wait."

   "Finn-"

   "No, just, tell me something Wells." the boy waited until he nodded, and then he took a deep breath. "Have you ever felt like you couldn't stop thinking about someone, like they're everything you can think about, and you just want... more than what you already have? Have you ever felt like that?"

   Wells looked down at his own fingers, toying with the hem of his shirt. "Yeah, I did. I got crushes like everyone else." he raised his eyes, shining with new determination. "But there's a reason why they're called _crushes_. It's because they go away, in the end. It's not like you're in love."

   "Ok." Finn muttered. "Ok, I get it. You have a point. I'm not in love, but it doesn't mean I couldn't. One day."

   "Please, Finn. You don't even know her." The boy shook his head, tiredly. "You're wrong. You know when she was here..." he carefully avoided the part when she was actually a prisoner. "I made sure to talk to her a few times. With excuses like bringing her water or whatever. I think she might like me, too."

   Wells sighed again, bringing a hand up to cover his own eyes. "And what makes you think that?"

   "Well, she smiled at me. More than once. And I don't know, just the way she is with me, how she talks and looks at me. And she made sure I rested enough to heal. She saved my life, that means she cares." the boy answered, his gaze distant, not really looking at anything in the room. "And I admit that maybe I did go a little over the top at the bridge. I told Lincoln some stuff and... yeah ok I was exaggerating. A little. But I know that I could be good for her." his eyes found the dark ones of the boy sat in front of him. "Maybe not better than this commander, but surely good. Why are you so against it?"

   Wells considered, he really did, the idea of telling the boy that Clarke only saved his life to buy some time for herself, and that she was actually going to let him die from poisoning. After a second, though, he thought that that would have only been cruel towards the boy, so he let the topic drop for now. Really, if he wanted to be hung onto someone that would have never been his, he could. Wells was too tired for that.

   "You know what? Fine." Wells said, clumsily getting up. "If you want to have a crush on her, do it. Just, please, _please_ don't try making some move while she's still with the commander, alright? I don't want them to kill us all just because you can't take a no for an answer."

   Finn looked actually shocked for a moment, but then he got up too and nodded, looking serious. "I get it. I won't cause any problem, ok? Besides, I need a few days to myself. I need to recover from this... thing with Raven."

   "You've been an asshole to her, I hope you know it."

   The boy with shaggy hair looked down at his feet, nodding again. "I had never thought I could have lost her. That's why I acted the way I did, with her. Lately." he murmured, having the decency to look ashamed. "I took her for granted."

   "Look, there are no excuses for the way you acted. She told me everything, and, really, it makes me sick. But I'm not here to judge you." Wells put a hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed it, looking at him straight in the eyes. "But you have to get your head into place, Finn. We can't afford troublemakers now. We need to make sure the grounders see that we're worth something, otherwise we could all be dead even before the Ark comes down. All it takes is _one wrong move_. Think about it."

   That being said, Wells patted him slightly on said shoulder and turned away, directed to his tent, where he knew Charlotte was waiting for him, ready to tell him everything about that grounder girl he had seen her talking to that afternoon.

 

***

 

   They had been talking for hours by now, and as predicted Charlotte was very excited about her new friend, Tris. She told Wells that the young grounder girl had lost her mother during war and now had some hard time dealing with it, just like her. They had several things in common and Wells was pretty sure that they were gonna be great friends one day. Since the sky was a bit clouded and the air was chilly, they had taken one of the furs the grounders were offering them and, wrapped up together like a giant burrito, they had spent some time just enjoying each other's company and watching the camp slowly fall asleep. After a while the girl, securely held in the older boy's strong arms, had started to feel sleepy as well, and was almost asleep when they heard a thunder and then someone screamed.

   In a matter of seconds, the grounders were all out of their tents, weapons in hand and ready to fight whatever it was that had caused the screaming. The delinquents came out of the Dropship and gaped at the sight of the big, fiery object falling from the sky.

   "What's that?"

   "Is that the Exodus ship? Are they coming down?"

   " _Put away your swords. Something's falling from the sky!_ " one of the grounders shouted. Wells looked relieved as the warriors sheathed their swords, and took hold of Charlotte's hand when the one in charge walked quickly towards him. "Wells kom Skaikru. Is that one of the things your people uses to travel in the space?" the man asked.

   "Yes. It is." the boy was about to continue when he noticed that something wasn't quite right. "I mean... It should... It's supposed to slow down now."

   The scout turned to stare at the object, his eyebrow knitted in confusion and worry. "I don't know how those things work."

   "But I do, and something's wrong." Wells said in a nearly panicked voice. "It's too fast!"

   His hold on Charlotte's hand tightened when, with a far 'boom!' and an explosion, the ship their people were in crashed on the ground. He stared at the red tainted sky with his mouth agape, surprised and scared and worried. How many people were in that ship? How many people had just died in front of his eyes? He faintly heard the scout asking him things, but he couldn't understand him right now. His people. Dead.

   Wells closed his eyes to hold back the tears. He couldn't help but ask himself: was his father in that ship?

 

_The Ark_

 

   "Alright, so. We checked every section and every system." Jake said at the persons around the round table in the Council room.

   Jaha, Kane and Abby were the only members of the Council still alive, but they had allowed a bunch of other people in the room as well, since the normal protocol wasn't really their priority now. The chancellor quietly nodded, prompting the engineer to continue. The tall man sighed, exchange a look with Sinclair.

   "Without all the passengers of the Exodus and... all the people that died when it launched, we estimated that we have... about three weeks of oxygen left."

   Jake's words were followed by a stunned silence, nobody dared to say a word. Three weeks, and they were gonna die.

   "But... Isn't there a way for us all to get to the ground?" Kane asked, staring at Jake and Sinclair with wide eyes.

   "We can try and find one but..." Sinclair paused mid-sentence to wipe his forehead with the back of his hand. "the chances to actually find a way to go to earth are extremely low. I'm sorry, sir."

   "We'll keep trying, though." Jake blurted out, trying to reassure all the people in the room, that were now sporting wide, panicked expressions. "We're not giving up. But we need all the help we can get, so if any of you has an idea, just come and tell us."

   The other people sat at the table exchanged worried looks with each other. They were trapped in a metal coffin with limited air and so very little time to find a solution that seemed impossible to realize.

   What now?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think that there are too many non-Clexa moments? Let me know.  
> Feel free to yell at me for anything, comments are always appreciated!  
> I know: Finn is still an asshole, but in a few chapters he'll talk to Clarke, don't worry.
> 
> Next Chapter: More Clexa stuff, Lexa gets a tiny bit jelous, and Monty discovers something!
> 
> Till next time!


	16. Someone Did This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They visit the Exodus crash site.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, chapter sixteen for you guy. I'm sorry you had to wait this long, I'm trying to write faster I swear!  
> A big thank you to all of you, I would be even slower without all your encouraging comments!
> 
> Remember, Trigedasleng is in italics.
> 
> Warning: at the beginning of the chapter there are a lot of dead persons.
> 
> Alright, now enjoy!

 

   The day after, they were all gathered at the crash site.

   It was a horrible sight, burned bodies laid everywhere, unrecognizable, and thin spirals of smoke were slowly making the air look foggy. The strong smell of fuel hovered all around the ship's wreckage, bothering all the people, grounders and Skaikru, that were now searching the site. Clarke was holding Lexa's hand while the brunette subtly helped her through the scraps, without making it look like she was struggling. Her leg still hurt, but it was getting better. The blonde saw Wells walking towards them and they stopped, still looking around.

   The boy came to a halt in front of them with a sigh. "Nobody survived, and we can't find anything to reuse either." he ran a hand through his hair, his brows furrowed. He looked both worried and confused. "One of my guys found something though, it's called black box. Maybe it will explain why it crashed."

   "Good." Lexa scratched her jaw, her eyes searching the site like a hawk. "Was all your people in that ship?"

   The dark skinned boy shook his head, looking tired. "I don't think so."

   The commander nodded, still looking around as if looking for something. Her hand squeezed Clarke's when she heard Raven shout.

   "Fire in the hole!"

   A second later an explosion startled them, and in a second dozens of swords were unsheated and the ready to defend the site.

   "Shit, I was just saying."

 

***

 

   "What is this?" Anya asked, bewildered.

   She, Lexa, Clarke and Indra were all staring warily at the red liquid slowly spilling from a part of the wreckage, forming a small pool right below it. Its smell was strong and pungent, and it was making their heads feel weirdly light.

   "Hydrazine." Raven said, looking rather smug. When they just stared at her with lost expressions on their faces, she explained. "Rocket fuel. Highly unstable, if this meets fire, we're all pink mist. Boom. Just like them." the girl nodded towards one of the burned bodies laying a few feet from them.

   The grounders nodded, straightening their backs.

   "We need to clear the area." Lexa said, sending Anya and Indra to gather everyone and escort them away from the danger.

   "Can it be useful for you?" Clarke asked suddenly, standing next to Raven. "Do you think you could find something to do with it? We can't leave it here, it's dangerous."

   "Yeah." the brunette nodded, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "In the worst case we can keep it in stock, put it somewhere safe. Far away from fire."

   "Alright. Do it, then." the blonde muttered, leaning onto Lexa's side to relieve some of the pain in her leg. The brunette wrapped an arm around her waist casually.

   "I'll send a bunch of my men to help you carry it to your camp, but I have one condition." the commander said.

   Raven raised an eyebrow, her arms still crossed on her chest. "What condition, commander?"

   The woman exchanged a look with Clarke before meeting the mechanic's eyes. "I want a few of my warriors to guard it. All the time, no one can touch it without permission."

   The girl seemed taken aback only for a second, then she relaxed and nodded, finally uncrossing her arms. "That's fine. I'll start to collect it immediately, then. Before someone actually goes boom."

 

    _The Dropship_

 

   Since that guy - Monty - had found the black box, both Clarke and Lexa had decided to follow the sky people to their camp to see if he was able to learn something from that thing, and to make sure that the hydrazine was really safe. When they arrived at the camp, Lexa followed Raven to dispose of the red fuel with Indra and a bunch of warriors while Clarke and Anya entered the Dropship with Monty, waiting for news.

   Needless to say, Clarke was really uncomfortable now. She wasn't scared of what could have happened to her in that camp, no. But she had been kept hostage in that very ship not more than a couple days before, so of course she was uncomfortable, and it didn't help her the fact that her own mother was like a wild tiger, jumpy and nervous. Both women sighed in relief when they entered the metallic ship with the asian boy and found there Costia, her hands deep in her bag full of supplies.

   " _Hey. It's good to see you._ " the girl smiled warmly at them, without stopping to reorganize all the things in her bag.

   " _Hi._ " the other two replied at the same time. Clarke smiled back at the girl, stepping closer. " _How are things going here?_ "

   " _A few of them are sick because of the cold and a couple ate something weird and were vomiting, but they're all doing better now. What about you?_ " the healer asked suddenly, throwing her a knowing look. " _You're not overdoing it, are you?_ "

   " _Please._ " Clarke rolled her eyes and heard Anya snort behind her. " _Lexa won't let me do anything. I'm moving so little that my back's as stiff as a board._ "

   " _Come sit here, then. I'm giving you a massage._ "

 

***

 

   "Alright, there is fine. I want someone to guard it at all times, am I understood?"

   Everyone nodded at the commander's words and a couple men started guarding the hydrazine right away, making sure no fire was allowed too near. Satisfied with the outcome of the visit to Raven's zone - that's what others called it - Lexa let Indra go to sort her business with the scouts and sighed lightly.

   "Thank you for trusting us with the fuel, commander." Wells said, his voice calm and proud at the same time.

   "No need." Lexa replied. "I still left two men to guard it."

   "Still."

   "Fine. So, I heard that you lost contact with your people." the woman changed topic, not feeling the need to be thanked by that boy. Her gaze shifted from him to Raven, who looked a little uncomfortable under her scrutiny. "Is that true?"

   "Yeah." the girl nodded. "It happened the other night, we don't know why." she sighed, toying with a loose string of her red jacket. "I tried to fix it but it's not a problem of our radio, so I can't do anything about it for now."

   Lexa nodded, satisfied with her response. It was the same thing Anya had told her the day before, and the girl seemed sincere, so she decided to believe her and let the topic drop, for now. Since the fuel had been dealt with, she excused herself and started making her way towards the Dropship. It really was impressive, the thought that people could travel through the space in that kind of... _thing_. It was clear that the sky people had a lot of knowledge about the technological stuff, and an idea suddenly started forming into her mind. She took mentally note of it, saying to herself that she should remember to tell Clarke, later, and see what she thought of it. For now, she only needed to get in that Dropship.

   Lexa was only a few feet away from them when she heard Raven ask something to Wells, her tone hushed.

   "Have you seen Finn? Where is he?"

   "He offered to watch Bellamy, in the Dropship." the boy said, sounding only a bit worried. "But he told me he would stay away from Clarke, at least for now."

   "I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid. That commander scares the shit out of me. If she catches him making some move he's dead."

   Lexa didn't stop walking, not wanting to let them know that she had heard their conversation, but her eyes narrowed while she walked, and her jaw clenched. So, there was someone who had a thing for Clarke among the Skaikru. Not that she could blame them, Clarke was just so amazing. But still, she didn't like the thought of someone else looking at _her_ Clarke. She would never admit it, but she was a really jealous person, especially when it came to the blonde. It wasn't that she didn't trust Clarke, no. She trusted her with her life, really. Lexa wasn't scared of the possibility of losing her to someone else, she just didn't want others to like her that way. She wanted to be the only one.

   But she knew she couldn't be. Obviously.

   Clarke was just _that_ amazing.

 

***

 

   " _Ouch._ "

   " _Don't be a baby, Clarke._ "

   " _Fuck you, Costia. It hurts._ "

   " _You're being a baby again, Clarke._ "

   The blonde held back an annoyed huff, feeling the muscles of her back sting and the nerves tingle because of the massage. Costia's hands moved expertly on her skin, and she knew that the ache was just temporary. Her muscles needed to relax a bit before she could enjoy the massage, and that process was being... painful. Anya was pacing slowly, looking almost bored, going back and forth in the small space offered by the Dropship, chewing on her fingernails like she always did when she was nervous or bored. A few feet away, Monty was hunched over the black box, focused on finding the reason behind the Exodus' weird crash. In that moment, the three heard heavy footsteps above them, and a second later a boy was climbing down the ladder, clumsily landing with a thud.

   "Hey, I need some help with- oh, hum... Hey." Finn stuttered a bit, hesitating at the sight of the three grounders in the room.

   He glanced at Monty for a split second, but he was focused on the black box and didn't notice. Anya had slowed down her pacing and was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, an unimpressed glint in her brown eyes, while Clarke was too distracted by the amazing massage to care about him being in the same world as her. Only Costia was polite enough to actually ask him what it was that he needed help with.

   "Oh! Right, Bellamy's shoulder is bleeding again, I think he reopened the wound." the shaggy haired boy answered, sinking his hands his jeans' pocket with an unsure smile.

   The brunette girl sighed heavily, dropping her hands.

   " _Hey!_ " Clarke grumbled, turning her head to glare at her friend. " _Why did you stop?_ "

   " _A guy's bleeding, I'm gonna go do my job. You're ok? Need something for your leg?_ " Costia asked her, grabbing her bag and getting closer to the ladder.

   " _Nah, I'm fine. Go save lives._ "

   The brunette turned to Anya with an amused look. " _Call me if she needs something for her leg._ "

   The general smiled a little, tense at the thought of _that boy_ laying upstairs, but didn't stop her pacing. " _Will do._ "

   After that, Costia disappeared in the second level and the room went quiet, an awkward silence enveloping the four of them. It was awkward mostly because the two boy hadn't understood a word of what they had said, and while it hadn't really bothered them, both Monty and Finn were feeling a little out of place. After a while, though, the asian boy resumed his work and Finn stood there avoiding to look at Clarke. The silence was interrupted when they all heard light footsteps nearing the Dropship, and a tall figure warily entering, attentively looking around.

   " _Well, this is weird._ "

 

***

 

   "Do you think that Finn will... you know?" Raven asked, frowning.

   They had watched the commander walk away, towards the Dropship, with a certain apprehension. Finn was in there, watching after Bellamy, and now Clarke was in there too. And now Clarke's girlfriend as well. And Clarke's mother. It was the recipe for a disaster. Much to Wells' approval, Finn had kept his word and had kept the distance from the blonde grounder until now. When they had told him that they were going to the crash site and that she would have been there, he had immediately offered to guard Bellamy instead of insisting to go. So, the dark-skinned boy had found it a good sign, at that moment. He wasn't so sure of it now, though.

   "I mean, he _has been_ avoiding her. I can't say for sure that he won't try something, but he's not _that_ stupid." Wells said, his gaze fixated far away, not really seeing what was in front if his eyes. Suddenly, he snapped out of it and turned to look at Raven. "Right?"

   The girl just stared back at him with an unreadable expression.

   "Let's go." She said after a second.

   Wells nodded and they started walking towards the Dropship. They couldn't risk it, better keep an eye on him.

 

***

 

   " _Well, this is weird._ "

   Lexa entered the Dropship with wary steps and a curious expression on her face. The place was really weird, and the more she looked at it, the more she found unbelievable that that thing could travel in the space.

   " _What is?_ " Clarke asked, a sweet smile bending her lips.

   She beckoned her by outstretching her pale hand, that the brunette immediately took, stepping in the other girl's space. Clarke was sitting on a low, metallic table, slowly swaying her feet back and forth, looking _oh so young_. When Lexa intertwined their fingers, they smiled to each other, forgetting only for a moment about the other persons in the room. Anya reminded them a second later, clearing her throat and smirking at them with a raised eyebrow.

   " _This place._ " Lexa simply answered, glaring playfully at the general, that was still pacing slowly. " _It's just weird. So different from what I'm used to._ "

   The blonde hummed quietly, the small smile still in place, while Monty kept working on the black box. She had to admit, the boy was relentless. Finn, on the other hand, was just shifting his weight awkwardly, looking unsure, like he didn't know if he was supposed to go back up into level three, or stay there where he was, or just disappear anywhere else. Lexa was throwing him suspicious glances, wondering why the boy was standing there looking awkward. The sky people in general looked awkward, though, so she pushed it out of her mind and turned to look at the asian boy hunched over the black box.

   "Do you think you can find out why that ship crashed?" she asked him, not moving from where she was standing, close to Clarke, with their fingers intertwined.

   Monty jumped slightly, not really expecting to be involved in a conversation, but he recovered quickly and straightened up his back, pausing his work for a moment. "I think so, commander." the boy said, with a minimal hesitation. "But I think I will need some more time..."

   Lexa nodded, leaning against the table Clarke was sitting on. "It takes as long as it takes."

   The boy nodded thankfully and resumed his work, almost looking smug. After a while, he huffed and looked around the Dropship, a frown adorning his face.

   "Finn, help me for a second." the other boy looked surprised, but welcomed the distraction and quickly walked towards him, waiting for orders. "Hold it there. Like this. Don't move."

   Monty showed him what to do and then got back to work, a focused look in his eyes. He looked like he was in his element, messing with that thing. Lexa smiled to herself at the thought. Then something snapped in her mind.

   Finn? Wasn't that the name those two had said earlier, the one with the thing for Clarke?

   She narrowed her eyes, sizing him up. After a few seconds of consideration, she decided that she didn't like him. Just, no. Her hand, still intertwined with Clarke's, loosened her hold and then slipped out of the blonde's. The girl turned her head to look at her properly, noticing the shift in her mood. The commander answered to her worried look by wrapping her arm around her shoulders possessively, hugging her tightly. She felt Clarke's arm around her waist and smiled.

   " _What is it?_ " she asked in a hushed tone, not wanting anyone to hear.

   " _Nothing._ " the brunette mumbled, so quietly that she almost missed it. " _I overheard what Wells and Raven said... about him._ "

   Clarke grinned, raising an eyebrow. " _Mmm, what did they say?_ "

   Lexa grimaced, wrinkling her nose and looking so adorable, at least in the blonde's eyes. For others, a grimacing Heda was a dangerous Heda. " _They said that he has an... interest, in you. They said that maybe he would have tried making a move._ "

   " _And now you're jealous._ "

   " _And now I'm jealous._ " she nodded, before realizing what she had said. " _Wait, what? No. I'm not._ "

   Clarke chuckled quietly, staring at her with adoring eyes. " _Of course you are._ " she murmured. " _It's ok, I like it._ "

   Lexa just hummed, glancing at the other persons around them. They didn't seem to have noticed their little conversation; Anya was still pacing, and the two boys were still working silently.

   After a second, she felt Clarke's hot breath against her ear, and her low, sultry voice murmured sweetly: " _Want to make sure he knows that I'm taken?_ "

   Lexa's head snapped to the side, finding the most beautiful shade of blue staring back at her with a wicked glint. She smirked, wetting her lips. " _You know, we should at least_ try _to be professional._ " she murmured.

   Clarke pouted, still looking at her in the eyes. " _You're no fun._ "

   Lexa was about to answer when she noticed a movement in the corner of her eyes. She saw Finn glancing their way, and although he didn't actively do anything, his eyes stayed on Clarke for a moment too long. The commander narrowed her eyes, throwing him a death glare. He didn't notice, though, so she decided she had had enough.

    _Fine_ , Lexa thought, _he wants to stare? He can stare at this._

   She looked back at Clarke, that was already grinning with a knowing look in her eyes. The blonde raised an eyebrow and licked her lips, inviting her to make the first move. And how could she say no to that?

   Lexa lifted her hand to cup the blonde's cheek, and with a mischievous grin she leaned in, closing the gap. Their lips met in a sweet kiss, and the brunette felt Clarke's hands grabbing one strap of her coat, tugging her closer. The blonde purposefully deepened the kiss, biting gently at her bottom lip, chuckling slightly. Lexa smirked, burying her free hand in sun-like braids, swallowing Clarke's quiet moan when she teased her with her tongue. For a moment, even if they weren't alone in the room, it was like nobody else was there, and they were back in their own little world. Until...

   "Ow! Fuck!"

 

***

 

   "Try to rest now. It will do you no good if it starts bleeding again."

   Costia fixated the wounded boy with a pointed look, making him slightly uncomfortable. Bellamy nodded, avoiding her eyes, and tried to straighten up a bit.

   "Thanks." the boy muttered, still looking away from her.

   Costia stared at him for a second. She knew who he was, obviously, he was the one that had tried to trade Clarke for supplies. She wasn't one to hold grudges, true, but what this boy had done... it was something else.

   "Don't thank me, thank who sent me here to help you." she said, her tone harsh.

   Bellamy glanced at her for a second, his forehead knitted and his expression serious. "Who is it?" he asked, his tone saying that he already knew the answer.

   "The commander, and Clarke. But it was that boy who asked, Wells."

   The boy actually looked surprised at hearing that the dark-skinned boy had asked for a healer to help him, after everything he had done. That was making him reconsider the boy a bit, he was starting to see that he was very different from his father.

   "I know what everyone thinks of me." he said, suddenly, feeling the need to explain his reasons to someone, anyone. The grounder just looked at him in silence, so he took that as a sign that he could continue. "That I'm a selfish asshole, that I only think of myself."

   "And?" Costia said, crossing her arms on her chest. "Isn't that true?"

   "No." he shook his head, struggling a bit to sit up. He sighed at the girl's skeptical look. "I mean, I'm no saint. But I did what I did to protect my sister. I thought I was doing the right thing."

   The brunette scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "How, tell me, _how_ could you think that torture two people, shoot at one of them, and then use her to obtain supplies, would have been the _right thing_?"

   The boy lowered his eyes for a second, noticing the way the girl was clenching her fists in rage. After a moment, he lifted his gaze, trying to appear confident. "I thought your people were going to kill us all!" he said, staring at her in the eyes. "I only knew that your people had killed a few of mine, and that we weren't prepared for the winter. I wanted to protect her, what else was I supposed to do?"

   Costia just shook her head again, not even bothering to look at him. "You weren't supposed to do that. You've acted foolishly. You didn't think about the consequences, you've been overconfident and impulsive. And that's all, that's why Heda's been dealing with Wells and not with you. You don't think, you just act." she said, barely containing her anger towards him, and his actions. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed, unclenching her fists. "I don't know you, so I won't just assume that you're a bad person. But our peoples are at peace now, so you better get used to it. You're not in charge anymore."

   That being said, the grounder brunette took her bag and went to climb down the ladder, but when she was about to disappear from his view, she stopped and looked at him. "I suggest you stay out of Anya and Lexa's way for a while, though." she told him, trying to hide her grin. "We may be at peace but no one would dare say a word to them if suddenly you were found dead in a corner. Just so you know."

   And he knew, hell if he knew. How could he forget, after the scary threat he received the other day from Anya. She had scared him so much, he was never going to lay a finger on Clarke, ever again. No way.

 

***

 

   When Raven and Wells entered the Dropship, they stopped abruptly at the sight of Clarke and the commander heavily making out in front of them. The others in the room - Anya, Finn and Monty - were looking at them as well, only with very different expressions. Anya was rolling her eyes - quite hard - and was fighting back a smirk, Monty looked embarrassed and like he wanted nothing more than to just evaporate, and Finn was... well, he looked like someone just slapped him in the face. They saw a pair of legs coming down the ladder, and then Costia's expression was matching Anya's, with eye-roll and smirk.

   Then, suddenly, Finn got too distracted and one of his hands slipped, causing a wire to touch his other hand. As the electricity traveled through his nerves, the boy jumped, letting go of the wires and shaking his hand, trying to get rid of the pain with a: "Ow! Fuck!"

   Wells couldn't hold back his laugh, even more so when he saw Costia roll her eyes with an exasperated sigh, before going towards him to put a cream on his hand.

   "Hum..." Monty said after a while, hesitating for a second when several persons turned to look at him. Clarke and the commander were just now... separating. "I think I found something."

 

   ///

 

   Clarke's mind was slow to get out of the delicious fog it was in. She almost couldn't believe that she had actually convinced Lexa to kiss her just to ease her cute jealousy. She was sure they had put on quite the show, but really she couldn't bring herself to care. Beside, now that she was actually paying attention to it, the boy's faces were priceless. Her mother threw her a: 'are you serious' look while Costia, still checking Finn's hand, wiggled her eyebrows at her with an approving smirk, making Clarke grin smugly. Beside her, Lexa stood straight, her arm still around the blonde's waist, and even if the Skaikru couldn't see it, she was smug as fuck too, her jealous side sedated, for now.

   "Hum... I think I found something." Monty said, and everyone turned to stare at him, his cheeks only a bit pinker than before. Lexa's smug expression got even worse at that. "I just need to get this..."

   After a few seconds of messing around, the boy went back to sit by the black box and touched something - the four grounders were so lost that they didn't even dare asking for an explanation - and immediately the room was filled with a weird, annoying and high pitched whiz.

   "What is it?" Lexa asked, staring at the noisy device with wary eyes. "What does it mean?"

   Monty cleared his throat. "It's not supposed to be like this. Something disturbed the signal, that's why the Exodus crashed."

   "It wasn't an accident?" Clarke murmured, surprised.

   "No. Someone... someone did this."

 

_TonDC_

 

   Later, that night, they were back in their tent. It had been a busy day with the Skaikru, and then they had to organize the teams to dismantle the ship, now that it was safe without the hydrazine. Then, messengers had to be sent to all the twelve clans and to Polis to warn everyone that a truce had been made, even if it was still fragile and weird. Colan and a bunch of his scouts were settled around the Dropship, together with the warriors in charge of guarding the rocket fuel, and they were enough to let the commander and her fleimkepa sleep without worrying too much.

   Now that they were lying in their bed, quietly chatting about anything and everything in hushed tones, waiting for sleep to come and get them, something came up in Lexa's mind. She had been playing with a strand of Clarke's blonde hair for the past ten minutes, staring at the ceiling, when she remembered a thing that had come into her mind earlier that day.

   "Hey, Clarke, I thought something today." she started, quietly. "The Skaikru has technology, and they know how it works, right?"

   "Mm-mmm."

   "I thought, the Maunon use technology as well."

   "What are you trying to tell me, Lex?" the blonde murmured, her head on her girlfriend's shoulder, her eyes closed and an arm flung over her waist.

   "Maybe they could help us. The Skaikru."

   "With the mountain?"

   "Yeah."

   Clarke breathed deeply, snuggling closer to the other girl. "I thought about that too. I think it could work, but I don't trust them enough yet. We'll see."

   The brunette hummed in approval, planting a sweet kiss on the girl's temple. "I know, they'll need to prove themselves, first. I'm not sure if they would want to help us, though." she furrowed her brows, thinking hard. "I mean, they don't really have a reason to."

   "Actually..." Clarke began, letting the phrase drop without finishing it.

   "Actually?" Lexa asked, already knowing it. "Clarke?"

   "The Exodus ship." the blonde said, her serious look matching hers. "They said someone disturbed their signals or something, and the only people who could have done that, are the mountain men."

   "I suspected the same. But, why?" Lexa wondered out loud.

   "I don't know." Clarke sighed heavily, rubbing one of her eyes with the back of her hand, looking tired. "We should talk to Wells about it, ask him if it is possible that the mountain men did it. Maybe, because of this, they could help us."

   "Hum. Right." Lexa whispered, her eyes closed. "We'll talk to him tomorrow."

   "Ok."

   After a few more minutes, Clarke was still awake, and she knew that Lexa was as well, because her hand hadn't stopped playing with her hair yet. Suddenly, Clarke smirked and asked, staring at her in the eyes.

   "So, are you still jealous or what?"

   Green eyes immediately opened and bore into hers, loving and sweet and just _oh, so beautiful_. "I wasn't jealous, Clarke."

   "Please." the blonde muttered, rolling her eyes with a smile. "You know I like it. And we put on a pretty good show, I must admit."

   The brunette groaned, fighting back her own smile. "He kept staring at you. It was annoying." she mumbled.

   "Anyway, are you happy now that we made it clear that I'm occupied?"

   "Yeah," she murmured, "kind of."

   "Good. I only have eyes for you, you know that right?" Clarke said in a quiet voice, tightening her hold on her girlfriend.

   The commander smiled, bringing up her free hand to start drawing patterns on the blonde's arm. "I know. I only see you, too."

   "Good." she murmured with a loving glint in her clear blue eyes. The girl propped herself up on an elbow and cupped her girlfriend's cheek with her right hand, gently bringing their lips together.

   The kiss was lazy and sweet, at first, but it started getting heated when Clarke bit the brunette's plump bottom lip, eliciting a low moan from her. She felt a hand grabbing a fist of her blonde hair, pulling slightly until she was straddling the girl. Soon enough, teasing tongues were playing together, like in a well practiced dance, and the familiar taste of each other's lips was invading the girls' senses. Eventually they both needed air, but as soon as she had regained her breath, Clarke stared leaving a trail of kisses down the brunette's neck, lazily biting the tanned skin in all her secret spots. She chuckled when Lexa gasped, letting out another moan, when the blonde bit playfully at her earlobe. Warm, expert hands made their way under Clarke's tank top, gently caressing her pale skin, tracing the well known scars with care and love. The blonde smiled into her girlfriend's shoulder when she felt one of those hands firmly grabbing her breast, making her breath hitch and her heart beat wildly in her chest. The heat of their two bodies so close together was burning them in the best way possible, lighting a fire inside of them that couldn't be extinguished.

   They were so lost in each other, that when Lexa's hand slowly traveled down to touch Clarke's thigh and the blonde let out a pained whine, only then they remembered of her injured leg. Lexa jumped and retrieved her hands, shaking off the lust fogging her brain.

   Clarke groaned, both because of the pain and the disappointment. "Why did you stop?" she whispered, gently cupping the brunette's cheek.

   "Clarke, your leg." the commander said, staring at her with her green eyes filled with concern. "We can't, it would hurt you."

   "Screw my leg, Lexa. I want you." she answered, sneaking her hands behind the other girl's neck and starting to play with her hair, hoping to convince her to continue with their previous activity.

   "Spirit, Clarke... stop." Lexa smiled and grabbed the blonde's wrists, preventing her from touching her hair. It was one of her weakness, and she needed to stay strong, tonight. "Clarke, your leg's injured. We can't, ok?"

   "But-"

   "No buts, Clarke. Two days." she said, still smiling. "If by then Costia says that you're well enough, we..."

   "You realize I'm a damn healer too, right?" Clarke glared at her, playfully narrowing her eyes.

   "I know, and you're a very good one. But we'll wait until Costia, or Nyko, say that you're well enough."

   "Fine!" the blonde groaned, rolling her eyes.

   She huffed, annoyed that that goddamned leg was preventing her from having sex, and slowly went back to lay on her side of the bed. Now that the heat of the moment was gone, she could feel her leg actually pulsing slightly, hurting more that she thought. She huffed again, crossing her arms on her chest, and she heard Lexa laugh beside her.

   "Clarke." she called quietly, after a few seconds.

   "Hmm."

   "I love you."

   The blonde tried to hold back a smile, but she knew it was a lost cause the moment she heard those words. Without saying anything, she turned, giving her back to the girl, and grabbed her hand, tugging her closer until she was hugging her from behind.

   "I love you too." Clarke murmured.

   Not even a second later, she felt Lexa tighten her hold on her waist, pressing a kiss to her clothed shoulder and then burying her nose in her hair, breathing in her scent. Lexa closed her eyes, just enjoying the feeling of her favorite person cuddled up to her. "Good night, Little Star."

   "Good night, Lex."

   They stayed like that for a few minutes, and just before sleep could claim her, Lexa heard Clarke mumble to herself, in a quiet whisper: "Two fucking days."

   The commander chuckled.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always appreciated, and you're all welcomed to give tips and suggestions!
> 
> Next Chapter: Finn needs a healer, the delinquents visit TonDC, and Jake gets an idea.
> 
> Till next time!


	17. What Makes A Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of talking, some fluff, and as promised Finn's problem is dealt with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, guys thank you so much for sticking around to read this! It means so much to me!  
> I decided that I'll try and post at least once a month, so you don't have to wait too long between the updates. I promise I'll do my best to respect the schedule.
> 
> Second, some of you asked about Ranya in earlier chapters. So, the answer is: Ranya will happen, but it won't be a romantic relationship. While I think that the two of them work really well together, in this story they won't be a couple, even if they will reach a point in which they'll be close.
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains a bit of non-graphic violence. Skip the part when they're training towards the end if it bothers you. Stay safe.
> 
> Also, Happy New Year! :)
> 
> Enjoy!

 

   After a week, things with the Skaikru were still going smoothly. They had talked to Wells and Raven about the mountain men and they had agreed to keep those informations to themselves until they could actually prove something. For now, it was pointless to worry everyone at the Dropship if they weren't really sure of anything. During the week, Raven had dismantled the radio - it was useless anyway, the Ark was silent - and had used the scraps to make two smaller radios to communicate with TonDC. They were going to bring it to the village today, and a small party of Skaikru who were curious to see how the grounders lived were going to join them on the trip. Clarke's leg was doing a lot better too, much to her happiness, and she was finally free to ride her horse, train and do... whatever she wanted to do. It still hurt a bit from time to time, but it wasn't as bad as before and aside from the scar on her skin, there was no clear evidence of the injury.

   Today, they were in the throne tent, Lexa was playing with her knife while Clarke just stood confident on her right. Gustus was near the entrance, quietly playing with his beard and looking pretty worried. An injured scout was in front of the two girls, explaining quietly how he managed to escape from a very dangerous situation.

   "The reapers are becoming restless, Heda." he said, struggling a bit. "A group of them surprised us in the forest, we suspect they came from the caves near the river."

   Lexa clenched her jaw, twirling the knife on the armrest of her throne. "What happened when they arrived?"

   The scout's chin trembled, clear sign that he was terribly upset, but he swallowed the lump in his throat and continued, refusing to give in. "It was weird, Heda. They weren't trying to kill us like they usually do. There were a few deaths on both parts, but after a minute it was clear that they wanted to capture us. Alive."

   Clarke sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers. Great, now not only the mountain men, even the reapers were kidnapping their people. "How may did they take?" she asked.

   The scout narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to remember. "I think, they got seven of us."

   "When did this happen?" asked Lexa, suddenly, still clenching her jaw in quiet anger. "How long ago?"

   "A day and a half, Heda."

   "Would you be able to point where this happened? On a map?" the commander got up, putting away her knife and showing confidence.

   "I think so."

   "Do it. We'll prepare a party to leave tomorrow at first light."

   "Thank you, you did good." Clarke added, throwing at the scout a grateful look.

   The man smiled and bowed, before exiting the tent with a light limp. The moment he was out of the tent, Lexa's shoulders slumped and she sighed heavily, falling back on the throne, passing a hand on her face. Gustus stepped forward, squeezing her shoulder with one of his big hands and smiling reassuringly.

   "It'll be fine." he said.

   "But the reapers-"

   "Lex," Clarke chimed in, sitting on the armrest of the throne. "none of that. Yes, the reapers are acting strangely, but I'm sure, it's going to be ok."

   Gustus nodded at the her gratefully, while gently patting the commander shoulder in a comforting manner. They both knew how deeply Lexa cared for her people, and how hard it was for her sometimes, but she was strong. She could get through. "Listen to your girlfriend, Lexa. She's right." the man added.

   "I always am."

***

   After a few hours, the Skaikru were due to arrive at any moment now, and Clarke was slowly making her way to the medical tent to offer some help, when she collided with what resembled a brick wall, that immediately started laughing a very, very familiar laugh. The blonde looked up and she was met with a well known pair of brown eyes and brown-reddish beard, which color was slowly fading into grey. The man was Gustus' size, his smile was so contagious that even Indra would often laugh at his jokes, and he was Clarke's personal guard. More like a good friend than a guard, actually, and the girl's lips bent into a wide smile at the sight of him.

   "Aghon! What are you doing here?" she jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. "I missed you, big man."

   "I missed you too, Clarke." he mumbled, hugging her back. After a few seconds, the hug ended and he looked at her with a smile that matched hers. "And to answer your question, I'm here to do my job. And because Elha kicked me out."

   Clarke laughed, guiding him to a bench and sitting down, inviting him to do the same. "I see. So it's still her that holds all the power in the household."

   Aghon grinned, rolling his eyes with a dramatic sigh. "Of course it's still her, have you seen her? That woman scares me."

   "You married her." Clarke pointed out.

   "Love is blind, kid. I love her even if she's terrifying."

 

    _Flashback - Two months after Clarke was kidnapped_

_"Clarke, I think I found someone to replace your guard. Do you want to meet him?"_

_The training Fleimkepa raised her eyes from the book she was studying and stared at her girlfriend's green eyes, and after a second she nodded, closing the book with a soft thud. The girl rubbed her eyes, tired after all those hours spent reading the stuff Titus had given her. After Nia's men had killed Jano, her personal guard, Clarke hadn't wanted another one, not yet. She felt like it would have been disrespectful towards him, since he died to protect her, to find a replacement so fast. But now, some time had passed and she knew that Lexa worried every time she went out without a guard, so she made up her mind and nodded, slowly rising to her feet._

_She took the brunette's hand and followed her to the throne room. There, a tall and big man, with a curly beard and messy hair, was stood with a small smile on his face, and was rolling on the balls of his feet while keeping his hands behind his back. Gustus was there too, keeping an eye on him. When the two girls entered the room, the man's smile widened, and he bowed to them briefly._

_"Clarke kom Trikru, I am honored to be offered such a job as being your personal guard. I'd like to introduce myself: Aghon kom Trikru, happily at your service." he said, smiling all the time._

_Clarke smiled back, squeezing Lexa's hand to let her know that she was pleased with her choice of offering the job to that man. He seemed like he would make a good company. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Aghon. When can you start?"_

_"Whenever you want, I have nothing else to do." he joked._

_The other three in the room chuckled. "Alright then, I hope you like to read, because I have a lot of things to study."_

_"Of course."_

_Clarke turned toward Lexa, murmuring a soft 'thank you' in her ear and leaving a kiss on the corner of her mouth before walking out of the room with the big man. She turned briefly, only to see the girl smiling happily, her fingers touching the spot she had just kissed, and behind her Gustus was rolling his eyes, amused. After another hour of studying, she was so tired she would have done anything to take a break. She was daydreaming about Lexa and flowers, when someone got her attention by clearing their throat. She jumped and turned._

_Aghon was standing there, a smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. "I think you need a break." he said._

_Ten minutes later they had left the tower and were now sat outside a small inn, eating a delicious cake and drinking an amazing fruit juice. The man let her complain about the amount of studying Titus gave her, and listened to her softly talk about Lexa. It was no secret that they were in love, and he actually couldn't stop laughing when she told him that they were trying to be subtle about their relationship, stating that they were so obvious that 'a blind idiot would still pick up the signals'. After a while, they grabbed some cake for Lexa and then proceeded to make their way back to the tower._

_That evening, after the cake had been eaten, Lexa asked Clarke if she liked him enough or if she wanted someone else. In that moment, she had known it._

_He wasn't going anywhere._

 

    _Present - TonDC_

   "Shit, guys, this thing is hard."

   "I thought you were tougher than that, Reyes."

   "Screw you, Murphy."

   The others laughed, silently agreeing with the girl. Wells, Octavia, Finn, Charlotte, Monty and a few others - not Jasper, he had refused to go anywhere near the grounder's village - including Raven and Murphy, were riding with a bunch of scouts towards TonDC. Each of them had their own business there, and some, like Murphy, just wanted to get away from the Dropship for a while. The thing was, none of them knew how to ride a horse, and now they were all trying to mask their discomfort. Except Raven, she was openly voicing it.

   "I'm serious guys." she continued. "I don't know how the grounders do it, it's like being sat on a moving rock. My butt is killing me."

   "It's not that bad." Octavia chimed in with a smirk. She looked like she was perfectly at ease on the horse. "You're too stiff, try to relax."

   "I'll relax when I'll die." Murphy muttered, shifting on the saddle with a grimace.

   "Well said." Raven mumbled.

   Wells just smirked. He was sharing a horse with Charlotte, and while he did find it uncomfortable - and a little painful - it wasn't that bad. The real reason for his worried estate was another one. The commander and Clarke had told him and Raven their theory about the mountain men, and while Raven was doing a good job at keeping the calm, he was slowly getting more and more worried. What if they were watching them from the trees? What if their people were trying to get down to earth, and this mountain men were stopping them?

   Too many questions for his one head.

 

    _The Ark_

   "Sir. We need your help, now more than ever." Kane prompted the chancellor with desperate eyes. "We need to-"

   "Marcus," Jaha said, raising a hand to make him stop talking. "Why don't you take a break?"

   The man stared at him wide-eyed and mildly shocked. The others in the room, Jake and Sinclair, were glancing at them from time to time to see if they needed to intervene. Kane shook his head slightly, blinking in disbelief. "No, sir, we don't have time for a break." he started waving his hands while talking, trying to emphasize his opinion. "We have two weeks top before the air runs out. We need your help with the simulations if we want to find a way to get on the ground."

   Jaha just sighed, looking so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. "I did everything I could. Now I want to spend the little time I have left, with the memories of my family and an old bottle of scotch." the dark-skinned man put a hand on his friend's shoulder and stared at him in the eyes. "And you should do the same." he murmured, then he turned and exited the room without looking back.

 

    _TonDC_

   "Guys, oh my God!" Octavia breathed out when she first stepped in the village. "Oh my God!"

   Lincoln, beside her, smirked at her enthusiasm, and after a second the two had already disappeared in the crowd. The girl was eating everything with her eyes, amazed by what those people had been able to create even during an apocalypse. With the man by her side, she started exploring the little village, breathing in the smells coming from the taverns, and looking at everything with eager eyes. After a quick tour, she and Lincoln got to the training fields. Octavia fell in love.

   She wanted that. Those skills, that grace in the movements. She wanted to be able to throw an arrow, and to use a sword like those warriors that she saw there. They were sparring with each other, each one with a different type of weapon. Spears, knives, swords, she was fascinated by them all. Most of all, she wanted the confidence. That feeling of being capable of something, the knowledge that she wasn't powerless. That she could have at least put up a good fight, before going down. The girl tugged at Lincoln's hand, drawing his attention away from the pits.

   "Can I try? I mean, am I allowed to?" she asked him with an hopeful expression.

   The man smirked, clearly everything but surprised. "You want to learn?"

   "God yes, they're so badass!" she blurted out, still staring at the warriors. "Can you teach me?"

   "Yes, sure. Come on, let's start now, are you ready?"

   "Hell yes."

***

   Anya and Indra were sitting at a table in front of a small inn, discussing the impending mission to go find the reapers that had kidnapped their people. Those woods were a good territory to prepare an ambush, but if the reapers decided to hide in the tunnels, things would have gotten much more complicated. They were still making plans when suddenly, from the training pits not far from them, someone started laughing loudly. They turned, and the first thing they saw was one of those sky girls, Octavia, falling on her ass trying to fight with Lincoln. Apparently, he was teaching her the basis of hand to hand combat. The other warriors were laughing at all her failed attempts, but the girl was laughing with them and the two generals saw them giving her tips to fight a little better.

   "Hmm. She's persistent, I have to admit." Anya mumbled, taking a sip from her drink. Suddenly, an idea popped up into her mind and she smiled widely. "You should take her as your second." she said pointing a finger at the other woman.

   Indra shook her head vehemently, looking at her as if she had grown a second head. "No way. I'm not taking one of those noisy children as my second. I'm not that desperate."

   "It's not about being desperate." she insisted with a smirk. "She just looks like she could keep up with your training. You can be harsh, you know?"

   The general huffed, sipping from her cup. "I'm harsh if I need to be." she said, sneaking a glance at the skygirl.

   "That's what I said."

   "Anya, wha-" Indra started, but she got cut off by a loud and cheerful voice that startled them both.

   "Hey there, generals! Having a drink at this hour in the morning, already?" Aghon sat down at their table with a contagious smile on his lips, and the two women couldn't help but smile too. He had that effect on people.

   Anya patted him on the strong shoulder, happy to see him again. "Aghon, it's been a while. No cake for us, big man?"

   The man shook his head, scratching his reddish beard and pretending to think hard about an answer. "Sorry, I think my wife ate it all back in Polis during her pregnancy."

   "Right, how old is the baby now?" Indra asked, suddenly more interested, a gentle smile bending her lips.

   The man lightened up like the sun in the sky, sporting a smile so wide the two women thought his face would split in two. "Little Mira? She's six months old, but I swear it seems to me like she was born yesterday. She's already as beautiful as her mother."

   Anya let out a little 'aw', even if she would have denied it if anyone asked. She just loved children, and she knew that feeling, like they were growing up too fast. She felt like only a week ago, Clarke was eight years old, and now she was an adult, a woman, and a very independent one. Time flies, so they say. Beside her, Indra had a knowing look in her eyes, one that wasn't often present on the tough woman's face.

   "Let's make a toast!" Anya suggested suddenly, calling for more cider and another cup. When they arrived, the three filled their cups and raised them, making them touch with soft 'clinks'.

   "To family."

***

   Raven and Monty were still finishing to assemble the radio in a small tent when they heard it was time to eat. Wells brought them two plates filled with delicious food, telling them everything they had been missing during the morning.

   Apparently, Octavia had mingled extremely well among the grounders, sparring with them and laughing like that was her home. Finn and Murphy had just looked around, until a few girls had pulled them in an eating contest that the boys had shamefully lost. Charlotte had been chatting with Tris since they had arrived and was still talking, while Wells had spent some time with Clarke and Lexa, discussing business but not only that. In fact, they had invited him to eat with them and, surprisingly, they were both a great company.

   Raven was disappointed, to say the least. She had been in the same tent messing with technological stuff with Monty all morning, while the others were having fun. With new determination, she went back to work, wanting to get out of that tent to actually enjoy what the village had to offer.

***

   "Lex..." she felt a small kiss on her neck. "Lex, seriously..." teeth pulling at her earlobe. "Oh my- Lex just stop teasing..."

   The brunette chuckled behind her, stopping her teasing to wrap her arms around Clarke's waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Sorry, I got carried away." she murmured with a small, smug smirk.

   Clarke snorted, clearly not believing her. "You're not sorry, I can sense you smugness from here."

   Lexa just hummed lovingly, placing a tender kiss on her cheek. They were in their tent, laying down on their bed, enjoying the quiet after the meal, when everything was just a little calmer, people were sleepy and slow to get back to work, the children that usually were loud and active were now taking a nap, and the village was peaceful. It was one of her favorite moments of the day.

   "I know you're the one who called Aghon here, Lex." she said, playing with her girlfriend's fingers. "Thank you."

   "Anything for you, Little Star." she whispered, placing another gentle kiss on pale skin.

   Clarke smiled and turned so that she was facing her, her smile widening at the sight of her lover. With an happy sigh she scooted closer, wrapping herself in the brunette's warmth, and bumping her nose with her own, making the commander giggle.

   "I wrote a letter to Luna about Ontari when I was still in Polis, and I just got her answer." Lexa mumbled, a little sleepily. "She agreed to be her mentor."

   Clarke arched her eyebrows in happy surprise with a lazy grin. "Ontari's going to be her second? Poor Luna, she's got her hands full."

   "Yeah, she did. But at least Titus will stop harassing me with complaints because 'Ontari's being difficult again', or 'Ontari doesn't want to spare with the younger ones'." the girl said, making a voice like a petulant child that, actually, sounded worryingly like Titus'. The blonde couldn't help but giggle at the imitation, picturing an exasperated Titus complaining to the commander about the young girl. Lexa smiled a little at the sound of her giggle. "He's a good teacher and a great counselor," she continued. "but he knows how to be annoying when he wants to."

   "Hmm, I really like his tattooed head, though." Clarke mumbled, almost asleep. "It's cool. Stylish."

   The commander smiled sweetly at the word 'cool'. It had been a while since Clarke had used it, she would say that a lot when she was little, but with time she had almost forgotten it. It was one of the 'skaikru words', she liked to call them that, those words that were used a lot on the Ark but she was slowly forgetting being on the ground. Sometimes, when she was tired, or distracted, or sleepy like now, those words would come back, almost sounding weird after all that time, but they never failed to make Lexa smile. She had always found them cute, especially if Clarke was the one saying them.

   With that thought in mind, she left a kiss on blonde hair and in a matter of minutes she was asleep.

***

   It was early afternoon when Anya decided to go to the training field she always occupied with Lexa and Clarke to sit on the famous log. She remembered her daughter sitting there all the time when she was little, too little to train with her. She would just sit there, chatting with Costia while watching her teaching Lexa how to fight. Good times, when her little girl was still a child. Anya smiled at the memories, taking her place on the log and preparing her stuff. She always did this thing, when she wanted to feel closer to him. Her father. She would sit there, with the man's sword, and would start sharpening it while telling him things about her life. It helped her fill the void in her heart, and it made her feel like he got to see how her life was, now that he was gone. She hoped he was proud of her.

   Now, she was quietly telling him about the Skaikru, she knew he would have been surprised by their arrival, and then about the woman Clarke had become, and even about Lexa. She was an important part of her family, so she always made sure to include her in her 'conversations' with her father. That day, though, someone else wanted to talk to her.

   "Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt you." Raven muttered an apology, slowly making her way to the log. "I just wanted to find a quiet place."

   The general scooted a little, making space for the girl, silently inviting her to sit next to her. The brunette hesitated for a second, before sending her a grateful look when she actually sat down. They stayed quiet for a while, the silence enveloping them like a protective blanket, and the only sounds that could be heard where the chirping of the birds, the village slowly waking up from its post-meal slumber, and the soft, rhythmic rasp of the whetstone on the sword's blade.

   "Can I ask you something?" Raven murmured suddenly, not looking the woman in the eyes.

   Anya kept doing her thing, never averting her gaze from the sword, but she answered anyway. "Yes."

   "Why did you adopt Clarke?" the girl asked, still talking very quietly, as if she was afraid that talking louder would disturb the peaceful atmosphere. "I mean, how did it happen? If you don't mind telling me."

   "It's no secret." Anya shrugged slightly, still sharpening the sword. "I always wanted children, but I never got married and I never found someone that I wanted to have kids with. So I thought I would wait, for what even I don't know, but then she fell from the sky." a sweet smile took place on her lips, brightening her features. "She was injured, scared, and alone. She liked me and I liked her, so I adopted her. We both wanted the same thing, anyway."

   Raven blinked a few times, processing her words. Then she asked, biting her lip. "The same thing?"

   The general nodded, never stopping her work. "A family."

   That single word hit Raven so hard she had to close her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. She thought the woman hadn't noticed, but she had. She just decided not to comment on it.

   "I thought I knew what having a family felt like, but I was wrong." she said after a minute, getting the attention of the woman back on herself. "My mom, I'm pretty sure she had me just to trade in my food rations for moonshine. And then Finn..." she trailed off, considering how much she could say without getting him in trouble. He was perfectly able to do that by himself. "I thought I knew him, but now I know he's been lying to me all this time."

   Anya nodded in understanding, glancing at the girl from time to time. She looked upset, but not too much. She was strong. "You know," the woman started, trying to help her. She had taken a liking on the girl, she was smart and brave, but clearly she has got a lot of shit thrown at her in her life. She deserved a little encouragement. "sometimes there are things that happen to us, that we don't really understand. I lost my parents, a long time ago, and I couldn't accept it for a while. I loved them and they were suddenly gone, it was so wrong into my eyes. Then, Lexa became my second and I started healing, slowly. When Clarke came, I didn't know we would end up being so close, I did what felt right at the moment and now here we are."

   Raven stared at her for a few seconds with a mildly confused expression on her face. "I... This is a nice story, I guess, but what are you trying to tell me?"

   Anya smiled slightly at the girl's bluntness. "I had lost my family, but I created a new one, with Clarke. Blood is not what makes a family, love is. The bond you have with someone. If I found another family, you can do it, too."

   The girl was left speechless for a few minutes after that, thinking about what the woman had just told her. It was the most supportive thing someone had told her in years, maybe in forever. She swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing herself to keep her cool.

   "I just want someone that won't lie to me like _they_ did." she whispered, thinking about her mom and Finn.

   "You'll find someone. Just believe it."

 

   After a while, the village was almost awake again and the two women were still sitting on that log, away from everyone, just enjoying the peace of being in that quiet place.

   "Can I ask you another question?"

   Anya snorted, but nodded anyway. "Ask."

   Raven shifted on the log, trying to get more comfortable - her butt was still sore from the horseride - and pointed at the sword with her index finger. "Is this your father's?"

   For the first time, Anya stopped sharpening it for a long moment, and Raven was already thinking that she had overstepped, when the general resumed her work, falling back into the previous rhythm.

   "It was." she said. "Now, it's Clarke's."

   "Woah, really?" Raven gasped, surprised. The sword wasn't little, actually it was a long, although thin, blade with a two hands hilt. She could imagine a big, muscly man waving it around, but Clarke? "Impressive."

   The woman smirked proudly. "I know what you're thinking, but trust me it's lighter than it looks. See the hilt?" she showed her the simple hilt, pointing at it with two fingers. "It can be used with one hand, or with both. My father taught me how to handle it when I was younger. Then, when Clarke was old enough to start training, one day she just saw it and fell in love."

   "Well, shit. That's badass."

***

   Wells and the others had just joined Raven at the field when Octavia came running with a face-splitting smile on her lips. It was weird, how Anya's quiet presence was drawing everyone near her, like children that wanted to be close to the only adult in the room. She wasn't as open with the others as she was with Raven, but she wasn't rude, either. Not far from the log the two were sitting on, Murphy was quietly chatting with Charlotte and that tiny grounder, Tris, while Wells, Raven and Anya were just trying to get to know each other a bit more. Finn was sitting on the ground, his skin a slight green, probably because of that eating contest he had lost that morning, chuckling at something Monty had just said.

   "Guys! You will never believe what just happened to me!" Octavia said excitedly, stopping in front of them. She eyed Anya shyly for a second, but the woman didn't say anything.

   "Let me guess," Murphy chimed in from where he was, "you discovered that you can actually live even if you're not wrapped around your boyfriend like a koala?"

   Monty laughed at that, but a glare from the brunette silenced him. "No. I was training with Lincoln and a few others, and at some point that general, Indra, came by and told me she was willing to take me as her second!" she told them, almost bursting with pride.

   Nobody saw the smug smirk on Anya's face. It was a big deal for her that someone so high-ranked as Indra had noticed her. She felt like someone was finally seeing her, what she was able to do, and it was great to be noticed for being herself, for once. She was tired of depending from others about her wellbeing and everything, and this was her chance to change that. 

   "Well, that's... good, I guess." Wells stuttered, unsure about what that meant. At the end he decided to just ask. "What does it mea-"

   A loud laugh interrupted him though, drawing everyone's attention to the other side of the field, where two men were walking side by side, laughing and waving their hands in the air while talking. They were slowly making their way towards the log, and when they got near enough Anya waved at them with a small smile. The delinquents, though, were all speechless. The two men were _huge_ , the older one had long, black hair and a beard of the same color, while his eyes were icy and sharp like the one of a hawk. He had a tattoo on his face and the moment he had reached the log, the smile had left his face and he had started glaring at them. Wells recognized him as Lexa's personal guard, Gustus. He scared him. The other one, though, no one had ever seen him before. He was still smiling, rolling on the balls of his feet while looking around like he had absolutely nothing to worry about in his life. He wasn't as scary looking as Gustus, even if he was the same size, because his light brown eyes were kind and sparkling, and he wasn't glaring at them.

   " _What's going on?_ " Anya asked, not paying attention to the delinquents reactions to the two men.

   Aghon shrugged, glancing to where he had come from. " _Our girls want to train for a bit. They're going to arrive in a minute._ "

***

   "Lexaaa, are you ready?" Clarke whined, waiting for the commander to come out of the bedroom.

   She was excited. After weeks of near to zero training sessions, she wanted to get back into a daily routine. Now that her leg was mostly healed, she didn't want to wait another day. The fact that the Skaikru were there and would probably end up watching was just a bonus.

   "Give me a second, Clarke! Spirit." Lexa's voice reached her from behind the curtain that separated the main room of the tent from the bedroom. She sounded only slightly annoyed, and the blonde could actually hear the smile in her voice. "Why are you so impatient?"

   Clarke huffed, fidgeting with a strap of her shirt while waiting for the girl. "I just want to start. Come on."

   "Tell me again, why did we cut our nap short to go training?" Lexa asked, finally stepping in the room, fidgeting with her gloves in an attempt to adjust them.

   Clarke smiled sweetly, getting right in front of her and taking her gloved hands in her own. "Because the Skaikru are here." She started pulling and tugging at the black fabric, making it fit comfortably around the girl's hands. "And I want to impress them."

   The brunette just watched her, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why? You don't have to prove anything to anyone."

   "I know." Clarke finished adjusting her gloves and Lexa wiggled her fingers, smiling when she felt comfortable. "But I want to prove to them that just because they managed to capture me once, it doesn't mean that I'm weak." she saw that the other girl was going to protest at the words, and gently put a finger on her lips, silencing her. "I know that's not true, it's not the point. It would just make me feel better."

   Lexa intertwined their fingers, exhaling quietly with a little, adorable pout. "Ok. I get it. I will be with you the whole time, you know that."

   The blonde smiled at how cute she was being, her blue eyes conveying all the love she felt for the girl. "I know. Thanks, love. I kinda want you to scare them, though."

   She brought one of Lexa's gloved hands to her mouth and placed kiss on her fingers, smirking when she felt them twitch. A second later, the same hand was caressing her cheek, gently and lovingly. Clarke relished the touch, closing her eyes to savor the moment. She smiled slightly when she felt soft, plump lips on her own, sending shivers down her body and then back up. She slowly sneaked an arm around her lover's waist, pulling her closer to her, making their bodies rest together, not an inch separating them. Lexa's free hand wrapped around the collar of the blonde's shirt, fisting it, pulling gently to tug her impossibly close.

   "Why don't we..." the brunette stuttered between the sweet kisses. "don't we... go back to... to bed. I can scare them another day." she tried, humming happily when she felt teeth biting her bottom lip gently.

   "Nice try, commander."

 

   Ten minutes later they were actually training. They used special swords, obviously, which blades were blunt and wouldn't really hurt anyone even if they were to hit their target. They were sparring, Lexa with two short swords and Clarke with a longer one, the most similar to her own, that was now sitting in Anya's lap. As predicted, the Skaikru were there, watching them, and she smirked when she saw that Lexa was being a good girl and was doing her best to look scary. The brunette was actually doing a good job, because she could see Monty and Raven squirming in their seats, and Murphy was carefully avoiding to look at her. Finn was clearly uncomfortable too, since he was on the receiving end of the majority of the commander's glares.

   As for Clarke, she was overjoyed. Getting back on the field after those few weeks was amazing, she could feel her muscles burn and her breath becoming heavy. Her heart was beating at a fast rhythm and it was great. Sparring with Lexa, though, that's what she had missed the most. The thrill of a good fight, like dancing with someone that she was perfectly in tune with.

   They fell into their old routine, one that had been perfectioned during the years, dancing around each other in a game of push and pull, their swords colliding with metallic screams.

   ///

   "Wow." Octavia muttered under her breath, observing the two warriors fighting on the field. "That's awesome."

   The others didn't answer but they were all thinking the same thing. The two were moving across the field like dancers, expertly swinging their swords or dodging a strike. There was some sort of elegance in their technic, something that was clearly a common point in their skills, yet there was something else that was different. All in all, it was an impressive sight.

   ///

   "So?" Clarke asked a little out of breath. She was way closer to Lexa than necessary, but sometimes it was just too much of a temptation. "You think they're impressed?"

   The brunette laughed breathlessly, glancing at their public - a lot of grounders had stopped to observe their leader's training along with the Skaikru - from over the girl's shoulder. "They look very impressed, and very scared."

   "Good."

   She grinned, kissing her deeply and without a warning, surprising her. Lexa let out a pleased hum, her swords long forgotten, and without caring about their audience she deepened the kiss. The croud actually cheered.

   ///

   Finn was feeling sick. Not just because of those two kissing on the field, but mostly because all that stuff he had eaten for that contest in the morning was threatening to come up. He usually knew when to stop, but those two girls were like bottomless holes. He and Murphy never stood a chance. He was paler than usual, and he could feel his stomach doing twists and turns, and he knew that it was it. He was going to puke. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't noticed that a few warriors had started offering to spar with the commander.

   When he got up determined to find a doctor, the big man called Aghon thought he wanted to try and pushed him on the field.

   "Heda! This brave sky boy wants to try!" he said loudly.

   A few surprised faces turned to look at him. Finn gasped, alarmed. "Hey, what? No, I don't-"

   "You can't back off now. Go, tiny man!"

   The boy was pushed into the field and found himself in front of the commander with a sword in his hand. He turned to look at his friends. Raven was staring at him in mild panic, Wells was frozen on the spot, same as Monty. Octavia and Murphy were both cheering in the crowd. Beside them, Clarke, Anya and the two huge men were grinning. The blonde sent a wink in the general direction of the two fighters, and for a moment Finn deluded himself thinking it was for him, but then he saw the commander smile on the girl's direction and his shoulders slumped. It didn't help that his stomach felt like it was upside-down.

   The brunette warrior looked at him with murdering eyes. Her green-grayish irises were wearing a hole in his head, and her jaw was so tensed that the boy thought it could have snapped at any moment.

   "Are you ready, sky boy?" the woman asked with a snarl, playing with her twin swords.

   He shook his head, his skin paler than ever before. "I don't know how to fight."

   "Then you will learn."

   The two started circling each other, or rather, Lexa started circling him and he tried to keep her in sight. After a while, he understood that she wasn't going to make the first move and thought, since he was already screwed, he might as well try. Ignoring the way his belly was screaming at him to just bend over and puke, he launched at the woman, swinging his sword clumsily. He heard a loud clang, felt something hitting him at the back of his knee, and a second later he was on the ground, groaning pitifully.

   He rolled on his back, and saw her above him, raising an eyebrow in mockery.

   "Already tired, sky boy?"

   ///

   " _My father's dead body could fight better._ "

   Aghon and Anya both laughed loudly at Gustus' words, along with the other villagers all around them. Clarke was just chuckling, staring at her girlfriend that was repeatedly kicking the boy's ass. She couldn't deny that, yes, she was quite pleased. Seeing Lexa putting that boy in his place was extremely satisfying, especially since he was so convinced that he could look at her the way he did.

   She watched with a grin as Finn tried to hit the woman once again, only to end up eating soil. Then he tried moving faster, but Lexa dodged his every strike and sent him on the ground, again.

   To his credit, at least he wasn't giving up, even though he _was_ turning a little green.

   ///

   Finn groaned loudly when he got tackled to the ground without even knowing how. He knew that a lot of people were watching him getting his ass kicked like a clumsy child, but he was starting to care less and less. Everything hurt, he could already feel the bruises starting to form, his stomach was in knots and, seriously, his pride was already dead. No point in suffering that humiliation anymore.

   "I... I..." he tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out.

   The commander approached him with a frown, pulling him back on his feet. "What?"

   "I think I'm going to puke." he panted.

   "Oh."

   He felt some fidgeting all around him, and then suddenly bright blue eyes were staring at him, analyzing his conditions. After a few seconds, Clarke grimaced and looked at the brunette.

   "He's going to puke." She said, then she turned towards him and took his left arm, guiding him away from the field and through the village. "Come on, I'm taking you to the medical tent."

***

   After Nyko had given him a bucket, finally the boy had been able to reject all the food he had eaten hours before, trying to win an eating contest. Clarke knew the two girls that had challenged the sky boys, and really it wasn't a good idea to play against them. On their own, they could have eaten so much food to last a week. She had tried to play against them, once. Not a nice memory.

   The blonde patiently waited for the boy to empty his stomach in the bucket, then she made him lay on a bed and passed him a wet cloth. He sighed in relief when he felt the soft, cool touch on his skin.

   "Thank you." he whispered.

   "Don't." her tone was icy, and it startled him, that now was looking at her wide eyed. "Don't thank me. I'm not here for that."

   The sky boy gulped, trying to moisten his aching throat. "What...?"

   "You know what I'm talking about, Finn." Clarke crossed her arms on her chest, her eyes boring into his. "You need to stop."

   A shadow of fear passed on his confused face, before being replaced with an expression of understanding. He blinked a few times, thinking about what to say. "But, Clarke, I thought-"

   "No. Whatever you thought, you were wrong. At first I encouraged you, it's true." she said, regret evident in her voice. "I let you think that you had a chance, but you have to understand that I did that because I needed help to escape. Nothing else."

   The boy stubbornly shook his head, regretting it immediately when he felt his stomach turn inside out. After a second, he took a breath and said: "I don't understand. You... You saved me. You saved my life, and then you made sure that I-"

   Clarke didn't even let him finish, she raised a hand and stopped him mid-sentence. "No. I didn't save you. Octavia did."

   "What...?"

   Clarke sighed, she knew this was going to hurt, but really she just wanted him to stop. "I wasn't going to save you. My plan was to let you die from poisoning and then pretend I didn't know, or that it was an accident." she paused for a split second, looking him in the eyes to make sure that he wouldn't question her. "The only reason you're alive is because Lincoln wanted to save Octavia. She cut her arm with the poisoned knife, didn't you see the bandages?" she re-crossed her arms on her chest. "I wouldn't have cared if you died."

   A flash of hurt and disappointment appeared in his brown eyes, and he turned his head to look at the ceiling of the tent. He couldn't bare to look at her in the eyes right now. "I... I don't know what to say."

   "Nothing." she answered, her voice neutral. "Just stop. I know that you think that one day, you and I could be... something, but that day will never come." she grabbed his face with a hand, forcing him to look at her. She needed him to understand. "I'm with Lexa, and I will always be. You need to see that I was never interested in you and that no matter what you do, there isn't a world in which I would choose _you_ over _her_. Get over it, sky boy, before you get hurt."

   "But you... you said-" he tried to protest, but her voice - once again as cold as ice - cut him off.

   " _No_. Whatever you think I said, forget it. Whatever you think I did, you misunderstood. Is that clear?" she stared at him until he nodded. "It's never gonna happen. And if you don't stop looking my way, you will get seriously hurt. Lexa is a good person, but it's not a good idea to get on her bad side. She could kill you, and don't make the mistake to think that I would get mad at herif she did."

   "You... You wouldn't?"

   Clarke let out a humorless laugh. "Did you hear me a minute ago?" she asked, her voice so cold that the boy flinched. "Of course I wouldn't. I couldn't care less."

   The blonde released her grip on the boy's jaw and straightened her clothes. She watched as his face fell and his shoulders slumped in resignation, disappointment evident in his eyes. She saw him try to find another thing to say to convince her, something valid to use as an objection, stubbornly refusing to let it go. She saw him finally realize that, he had gotten everything wrong. Shame, anger and regret flooded his eyes, and Clarke knew that she had won.

   "I'm sorry. I understand, and... I won't bother you anymore." he gulped again, his throat burning not only because of the acid in his stomach, but also for the emotions that he was forcing himself to swallow. "I really am sorry. I never meant to do anything bad, I swear."

   Clarke nodded, quietly scanning his face as if searching for a sign that he was lying. When she found none, she only muttered: "Good." before turning on her heels and heading out the tent.

    _The Ark_

   Abby and Jake were in their cabin, getting ready for bed. They had been holed up in work for so long that they had barely seen each other since the explosion during Unity Day celebration. While the surgeon had been busy helping everyone with their injuries, Jake had tried simulation after simulation together with Kane and Sinclair. He refused to give up like Jaha did, he had a lost daughter to find and a planet to see, so no way he was letting this old piece of crap called Ark stop him. Sure, he was worried too, and he knew that Abby and many others were as well. The last time they heard from the kids, they were at war with the grounders, and after they lost contact there was no way to know how things were down there. It was frustrating and alarming at the same time, but there was nothing they could about that now, beside finding a way to get on the ground before they ran out of oxygen.

   "Oh my God! Jake!" Abby gasped suddenly, a nostalgic smile spreading on her face.

   "What? What's happening?" the man asked, jumping towards his wife.

   The woman was holding in her hand a little USB pen, and on it there was the smallest note, that said: ' _C &W – U.D. Speech_'.

   "I can't believe it." Jake whispered in awe, staring at the little device like it held a treasure. "I thought we had lost it."

   "How do you feel about watching it?" Abby asked, unsure. She really wanted to watch it again, to see the face of her beautiful little artist.

   "Yeah... I'd love to."

   They hooked the pen up to a small screen and in a matter of seconds, the smiling faces of Clarke and Wells when they were little appeared on it, turning them both into crying messes.

 

    _"The stations..." Little Wells started to say._

_"The other stations." Thelonius corrected him._

_"The other stations saw this and wanted to be together, too. When all the stations were joined, they called themselves the Ark." the child concluded, looking so proud of himself._

_Beside him, a seven years old Clarke smiled widely at him, showing a missing tooth, and clapped softly to compliment her friend._

 

   They heard Jaha and Jake's laugh in the background of the video, and couldn't help the smile. Their little girl, she was so adorable, so beautiful. She was always so smiley, that she could brighten up a room just by entering it. It was just impossible not to love her.

   "She was so cute with that missing tooth." Abby said, wiping her wet cheeks.

   "She's always been the cutest kid." Jake agreed, not caring about the tears rolling down from his eyes.

 

    _"Daddy, how does the Ark stay in space?" Wells asked, looking suddenly confused._

_"My daddy says it's the thrusters." Clarke said, with a few difficulty to spell correctly the last word._

_Jake's background voice laughed, elated, making a bright smile appear on his daughter's face. "That's right, always listen to your old man." he started, before launching in the explanation. "There are thrusters all over the Ark. Every station has them. They keep us spinning so that we generate our own gravity. They help us stay in orbit and they help us steer."_

_Wells left out a little: "Wow..." while Clarke grinned proudly, before muttering under her breath: "I knew it. That's so cool."_

 

   "The thrusters..." the engineer murmured to himself, slowly wiping his tears. "Of course..."

   "Jake? What are you talking about?" Abby asked, slightly alarmed.

   The man turned towards his wife with a new sparkle in his blue eyes, a new hope starting to burn in his heart. He cupped the woman's cheek and kissed her sweetly, before starting to grin.

   "I know how to get us on the ground." he stated. "We're going to meet Clarke again."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note:--- C&W – U.D. Speech = Clarke & Wells – Unity Day Speech
> 
> So, I really hope you liked it and that it was up to your expectations. Feedback and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> Feel free to point out mistakes and to suggest things that you want to see!
> 
> Next Chapter: Raven and Finn have a moment, Clexa fluff, a nightmare and The Ark launches.


	18. Dripping Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time of peace before everything goes to shit. Enjoy it while it lasts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> I'm sorry this chapter is not very long or filled, I got sick and am just now getting better, so I didn't have much energy.  
> WARNING!: last paragraph contains scenes of war and violence and is potentially triggering. Stay safe.  
> Enjoy!

   After her - overdue - talk with Finn, Clarke just went back to her tent with a wide smile on her face. She was quite pleased, not only because she had gotten the boy to leave her alone, but because Lexa had kicked his ass. _Gloriously_. With a satisfied grin she strode proudly through the village, her chin held high and her eyes looking straight ahead. She was _gloating_. For her people, having a partner that would defend your honor in case a third person tried to court you, was a reason of great pride. For them, it was a sign of respect towards you. And Clarke adored all the looks she was receiving right now.

   When she entered her tent, Lexa wasn't there yet, so she decided to prepare a bath to share with her once she was back. The girl deserved a little reward.

   ///

   Lexa balanced the tray of food on an arm while she used the other one to open the tent's flap, and stepped inside. Immediately, she looked for Clarke, but the blonde wasn't in sight. The commander noticed the light of candles filtering through the curtain at the bathroom's entrance, and smiled.

   "Clarke?" she called, fixing the food on the tray, wanting it to look perfect for her girl. "Love, are you in there? I brought food."

   "This way." the blonde's voice answered from behind the curtain, followed by the sound of slender fingers playing with water.

   Lexa smirked, making her way towards the room. She carefully lifted the curtain, making sure that the food was safe, and then let it fall closed behind her. She turned, still smiling, and was about to greet the girl when suddenly her mouth went dry and her eyes widened.

   "Hey, there." Clarke murmured in a tempting voice.

   She was sitting against the tub's wall, her legs crossed and her left hand dipped in the hot, steaming water. Her hair was loose, and was flowing down her back in messy, yet beautiful, blonde waves. Her naked skin was practically glowing in the candlelight, and she was wearing this lopsided grin on her lips, that made Lexa's knees go weak. Her blue eyes were shining with love and a teasing glint.

   "You ok, Lex?" Clarke asked playfully, raising an eyebrow at the brunette still frozen on the spot.

   The commander shook herself out of her stupor and smiled sweetly, that smile that she always saved just for Clarke. "Never been better." she took a few steps in the girl's direction and put the tray of food on a small wooden table. She eyed the bath. "Why am I sensing some serious self-satisfaction coming from you, Clarke?"

   The blonde chuckled, her blue eyes never stopping to watch her. "Maybe because I am, self-satisfied."

   Lexa nodded quietly, slowly starting to take off her pauldron. "I see. And may I ask why?" she said with a mocking grin.

   "Oh, you know why."

   With slow and calculated movements, Clarke got closer to her and started unbuttoning her coat, gently tugging at the fabric, standing way nearer than needed, but who cared. She could, so she did. Practically breathing against each other's lips, sharing the same air, bumping each other's nose, they lost themselves into the other's eyes. With great care Clarke freed Lexa from her gloves, then let the coat slide down her arms. The brunette smiled.

   "Tell me anyway." she whispered. "Please."

   The blonde smiled sweetly, hanging the coat on the backrest of a small chair near the tub. When she turned, she wordlessly tugged at the hem of Lexa's shirt. Getting the hint, the commander lifted her arms above her head, allowing the other girl to take off the garment, leaving her in only her tight fitting thank top and leather pants.

   "I'm happy." Clarke murmured against the brunette's lips. "Because you fought for me, today. I know you were jealous, Lex. But it's because you love me, and that's ok. And today," she kissed the girl's lips, lightly and lovingly. "today you made me feel like I'm the most important person in the world."

   Those words made Lexa smile. It was a little smile, but it was so sweet, and happy, and free. It was the special smile, a little lopsided, a little teasing, and just for Clarke. Nobody else had ever been on the receiving end of that smile, and that was just another thing that made Clarke fall in love with her again and again. The brunette bumped her nose against Clarke's, and then left a gentle kiss on her lips, trying to convey every emotion, everything.

   "I love you." she murmured.

   "I love you, too."

   After that, Clarke gently helped her lover out of the rest of her clothes, alternating sweet kisses and 'I love you', and quiet chuckles. When all the clothes were laying folded on the chair, the two girls slipped in the bath, basking in the hot water. The blonde had her front pressed against Lexa's back, hugging her with her arms around her waist, with the brunette comfortably sat between her legs. The tray of food was long enough to reach the two sides of the tub, so they had laid it there, above the water, and were now eating calmly, sharing everything. It was something they always did, share the food. It was one of the many ways they had to feel close. Every now and again, Clarke would press gentle kisses along the curve of her lover's neck, on the skin of her shoulders, on her cute, tiny ears. To that, Lexa would answer with a soft stroke of her fingers along her arm, or tracing patterns on her knees, or turning her head to press her lips against hers. It was like basking in happiness. Real, and simple, and true.

   "What did you tell to Finn?" Lexa asked suddenly, putting away the tray of food, now empty. "I know you didn't accompany him to Nyko just to socialize."

   "Mmm, you're right." Clarke chuckled. "I just told him the truth and asked him to leave me alone."

   The brunette furrowed her eyebrows, slightly confused. "The truth?"

   Clarke nodded behind her, pressing her lips on the girl's shoulder. "Yeah. That I didn't save him in that Dropship, that I was going to let him die." she sighed quietly, resting her chin on said shoulder. "That I don't see him that way."

   Lexa smirked at her words, turning slightly to sweetly look her in the eyes. "Good."

   The blonde laughed at her satisfied smile, tickling her and making her squirm in the warm water, splashing it all around the tub.

   "Clarke!" she squealed, trying to free herself from the blonde's grasp but failing, too ticklish to coordinate her movements. "Stop please stop! Clarke!"

***

   "Did you know?"

   Raven tried to say something, anything, in her defense but the words just wouldn't come out. When she had entered the healer's tent, she had only wanted to check on Finn, since he had gotten his ass kicked, just to make sure he was ok. The boy was sporting a lot of bruises and didn't exactly look great, but he seemed to be fine when she had stepped inside. She hadn't expected to be confronted so angrily a second later.

   "What are you talking about, Finn? Are you ok?" Raven stepped a little closer to rest a hand on his forehead, but the boy slapped her hand away.

   "Answer me. Did you know?" he asked again, gritting his teeth.

   The brunette let out an exasperated sigh. "Did I know what, Finn?"

   The boy locked eyes with her for a few long seconds, his furious gaze fixated into hers. "Did you know that she was going to let me die?"

   Those words met a stunned silence. Raven didn't know what to say. Should she lie? Tell him that she had no idea? That would have only complicated things. Right? The girl sighed, closing her eyes to avoid Finn's look. She bit her lip, trying to come out with an answer that wouldn't hurt too much.

   "Finn, I..."

   "No!" he yelled suddenly, startling her. The big man with dark hair, Nyko, that was tending to an injured child on the other side of the tent shot him a glare, visibly bothered by his tone. "No, Raven. Enough with the excuses." the boy exhaled heavily, closing his eyes for a few moments. When he reopened them, he was a lot calmer and his voice was nearly a whisper. "Just, tell me the truth?" he asked. "Please?"

   Raven stared at him dubiously, considering the possibility of just turning her back to him and walk out of the damn tent, but in the end she crossed her arms on her chest, her eyes down. She nodded. "Yeah, I knew."

   She watched Finn clamping his eyes shut, his brows furrowed and his lips sealed. He stayed like that for a while, then exhaled with a tired sigh and reopened his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? Sooner?"

   Raven scoffed, uncrossing her arms only to return them in the same position as before. "And you think you'd have believed me?"

   Finn huffed quietly, looking away. "You're right." he paused for a moment, thinking. "I made a fool out of myself. Didn't I?"

   Raven nodded, then noticed that he wasn’t looking at her and said: "Yeah."

   "God, I've been so stupid." he muttered, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head. "I can't believe how fucking blind I've been."

   "Hey." Raven tried, cautiously resting a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't know."

   The boy shrugged her hand off, an angry glint again present in his eyes. "But _you_ did." he snarled at her with gritted teeth. "You knew, and I'm ready to bet that Wells did, too. Everyone knew, but not one, not _one_ of you thought about telling me."

   "What could have we done, Finn!" the brunette snapped at him, feeling anger mixed with regret building up inside of her chest. "You wouldn't have believed us! And even so, what. We couldn't just come to you and say: 'oh, by the way, that girl you're crushing on was going to let you die without a second thought.'" she paused for a second to breathe in some air and calm down. "We just didn't want to hurt you."

   "Doesn't matter." he murmured. "I've behaved like an idiot and made a fool out of myself, and you all knew."

   The mechanic looked at him, biting her lip. "We're both at fault, it seems. You more than us, but still."

   Finn nodded tiredly, his eyelids drooping. "I'm tired, Raven. Can we continue this another time?"

   "I guess. Get better. Soon."

   She didn't wait for an answer and got out of the tent as quickly as possible. Ten minutes later, she was sat at a table with Octavia, Lincoln and Murphy in front of a glass of grounder booze, drinking away her thoughts.

***

   Lexa's skin was soft and warm under her touch.

   She was gleaming in the candlelight, beautiful and perfect. Clarke traced with her fingertips every pale scar, every little mark, worshipping every inch of that tanned skin while whispering her love for the woman. She couldn't get enough. Her sweet scent, so delicate and yet so particular, it was fogging up her mind, and she couldn't think. She didn't _want_ to think. Every curve of Lexa's body was a familiar territory that she would never tire to explore, every little sound that escaped the woman's pink lips was a well known song, one that Clarke would always want to hear. Looking up to connect their eyes, Clarke thought that this, this had to be what people called a vision. She was just too amazingly beautiful to be real, to be hers.

   "Clarke..."

   That one word, whispered in the orange-ish light of the candles, was enough to let her know what she needed. She slowly made her way up, until her lips met her lover's. The blonde's heart was beating so wildly against her ribcage, that Lexa could probably hear it. Their kiss was slow, yet frantic; passionate and hungry, yet sweet and gentle. It conveyed just the way they loved each other.

   "I got you, Lex." she whispered against her lips.

   She resumed her worshipping until the both of them were burning, their hearts like war drums and their bodies on fire. They let the flames consume them, the sweet taste of each other forever imprinted in their minds. They were falling down a cliff, they were swimming in the ocean... they were flying among the stars.

   "I love you..."

   "I love you... come with me..."

   "Let go..."

   Their words like whispers in the night, tired limbs tangled under the furs, sharp taste of salt on sweaty skin, _burning_...

 

    _The Ark_

   "Alright, everyone, be prepared!" Jake shouted, shaking slightly.

   They were really going to do it. When the man had told Kane and Sinclair his plan to use the thrusters to launch the Ark towards earth, they had looked at him like he was crazy. But after a few minutes they were just as thrilled as he was, and had helped him with the preparation. Even Jaha, that the previous days seemed to have lost every hope of seeing his son again, had come out with a new spirit. They all felt like finally, things were going to be ok.

   "Listen now! Hey!" Jake looked at the people gathered in front of him, all the survivors of the Ark. "The plan is this: first, we'll separate from the ring we're standing in now, and then we'll use the thrusters to push our way towards earth. And this is the easy part."

   They just glanced at each other with worried expressions, fidgeting on the spot. Jake took their silence as his cue to continue.

   "The hard part... is the descent. The Ark will probably separate in its original stations, and even though we know that some might explode, we have no way to anticipate which of them, actually, will." Jake silenced the now murmuring crowd by waving his hands in the air. "This is our only chance! If we stay here we _will_ die!"

   Sinclair jumped in the conversation, trying to help him. "Jake's right! We tried every type of simulation, and in every scenery we all end up dead."

   The two men looked at the now silent crowd with a little frown and sweat on their forehead, understanding their worry and fear. But they had no choice. Suddenly, Abby's voice raised above all others.

   "How close are we gonna land to the kids?" she asked, her expression a mix of hope and desperation.

   "As close as we can." Jake wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, then gulped loudly, his clear blue scanning the crowd and stopping on his wife's face. "This is our only chance."

    _Our only chance to meet Clarke again._

 

   " _Alpha station, good to go._ "

   " _Mecha station, good to go._ "

   " _Hydro station, good to go._ "

   Jake tightened his hold on Abby's hand, both of them shaking with both nerves and excitation. The couple smiled tensely, waiting for the all stations to be ready to launch.

   " _Aero station, good to go._ "

   " _Farm station, good to go._ "

   Finally. The two locked eyes, swallowing the lump in their throat. That was it. It was time. If everything went well, they would get to hug their daughter once again, they would get to see how beautiful and strong she had become, and everything would be ok. If something went wrong... at least they knew that she was alive. It was still something. It was still more that what they’ve had for years.

   Jake heard Sinclair exhale shakily a few feet away, and then the man said: "Chancellor Jaha, all stations are prepared for launch."

   A few seconds later, they heard the deep, soothing voice of the man starting to recite: " _In peace... may you leave this shore. In love... may you find the next. Safe passage on you travels, until our final journey to the ground._ " a pause. " _May we meet again._ "

   "May we meet again." everyone answered, like a single person.

   " _Sinclair._ " Jaha's voice said.

   "Yes, sir."

   " _Take us home._ "

   Everyone tensed up, anticipation and fear almost palpable in the air. Abby hid her face in the crook of her husband neck, clamping her eyes shut, breathing him in.

   Sinclair nodded slightly. "Taking us home, sir." the man paused for a moment, meeting Jake's eyes. He smiled a little at him, hugging his wife fiercely. Sinclair started the procedure. "Initiate go-sci separation, in five... four... three... two... one. Separate."

   Jake closed his eyes and buried his nose in Abby's hair, holding onto her with all his might. Only that... nothing happened. He slowly reopened his eyes and saw Sinclair sporting a defeated expression, running a hand through his hair.

   "Sir, remote detonation failed. We are negative for launch. Someone will have to launch manually."

   Everything fell silent for a moment, then Kane started unbuckling his makeshift seatbelt and got up.

   "Marcus," Jake said, suddenly. "what are you doing."

   The man wetted his lips, clearly upset but certain of his decision. "Someone has to stay behind." he murmured. "Salvation... comes with a price."

   The two friends stared in each other's eyes for a few seconds, the Jake extended his arm and the two held each other's hands tightly. It was a little gesture, but it was all he could do for his friend at the moment.

   "How much air will I have?" Kane asked, looking in Jake's eyes as if they held all the answers he could need.

   "A week. Two weeks at most." he murmured.

   His friend nodded and let go of his hand. Suddenly, the whole Ark shook and trembled, the force of the explosion separating them from the ring made Kane stumble and fall. Everyone looked at each other with wide eyes and surprise written all over their faces.

   "How?" Abby asked out loud, glancing at her husband.

   Before he could actually answer, that deep, soothing voice did it for him.

   " _Godspeed, my friends. Godspeed._ "

   ///

   "Godspeed, my friends. Godspeed."

   Jaha couldn't help the sad smile that bent his lips, not quite reaching his eyes. He had always loved that little joke, Wells used it all the time. God that boy, bless him. He was better than his father and than most people out there. And he was so proud of the man he had become.

   " _Thelonius, where are you?_ " Abby's voice asked, worried.

   "Right where I'm supposed to be." he said. And he was.

   He couldn't let someone else do it. He was the chancellor, it was his duty to protect and serve his people, and he had done some questionable things in the past. Now, was the time to make things right. He wouldn't ask someone else to do something that even he wasn't willing to do. Ever since the culling, and after speaking with Wells over the radio, he had seen that act for what it truly was. A massacre. A pointless, stupid, rushed massacre. Life on earth was possible, people were already living on it while he killed people in space because they had stolen some medicine, all of this while hiding behind the excuse that it was to ensure the survival of the human race.

   Lies, lies, lies. Lies that he told himself to bear the weight of such an act as it was murdering his own people, but lies nonetheless. And he was so tired of lying.

   "Hold on tight Abby, Jake. You will see your daughter soon." he added.

   This time, the small smile did reach his eyes. How could it not, when his mind was suddenly flooded with pictures of Wells and Clarke as children, being so cute and perfect together. Learning how to play with his son's chessboard, or painting their father's faces with Clarke's paint. He was glad the girl turned out to be still alive. He had seen the effects that her disappearance had had on her parents, his friends. Jake was always sad, and the spark in his eyes was gone. He was half the man he had been, keeping on going only because of Abby. The woman wasn't quite herself either. She was a shadow of who she was, throwing herself into work to avoid drowning in the moonshine.

   He was lucky, Jaha told himself. He had gotten eighteen years with Wells, he had gotten to see him grow up, meet his first girlfriend, go through his first break up. He had seen him become a chess champion, a great person, and an amazing young man. But they didn't. Abby and Jake had lost their daughter when she was barely eight years old. They missed all those things, they missed her first love, they missed ten of her birthdays, they missed her becoming a woman. They missed so many things that he had had the chance to see, instead.

   It was time for them to meet her again.

 

    _TonDC_

_She was preparing it again. The red beverage, the one contaminated with the illness. The blood fever. She was doing it again, she hated it, she didn't want to do it anymore. And yet she was doing it again._

_Why was she doing it again?_

_"It's ready." she said._

_Suddenly, there were people all around her, and the air was hot and dry. She remembered that air, that atmosphere. Sangedakru. The Desert clan._

_No, not again. Please just stop! Don't give it to them, stop! Don't do it!_

_She took the little bowl filled with the red liquid and turned to face her people. They were blurry figures only vaguely resembling the warriors from her clan. The warriors slowly moved away, murmuring, leaving a path among them to let her pass. At the end of the path, two figures were holding tight a third person. This person wasn't blurry, though. This person was clearly recognizable. And she remembered him vividly._

_He was a young, scrawny boy with wide brown eyes and a lot of curly hair. He was sweating profusely, crying like a baby, begging her not to do it, to just let him go. To have mercy._

_Mercy. It was war. There was no room for mercy._

_She felt sick to her stomach when she lied, faking a reassuring smile to fool the child. She said: "It will give you strength, you have to deliver a message."_

_It wasn't true. It wasn't true. She was poisoning him, she was condemning him and she was doing it with a smile on her face._

_She was a monster._

_The little boy believed her, he drank the liquid. He was given a false message and he was sent back to his people. And he had believed it. Her. Because she had smiled._

_She felt something touch her, someone was trying to comfort her, but she couldn't see them. She was drowning in the darkness, and the people around her were getting even more blurry, there were voices but she couldn't understand their words. They were screaming at her, trying to say something, but she could not understand, the darkness was all around her, hovering over her like a drenched coat, heavy, it clung to her skin, dragging her down, down, down..._

_Then, a light in the darkness. A fire, too far to see clearly, but still a fire. She started running towards it, craving the light and the relief she would find if only she could reach it. So she ran faster, faster until she couldn't breath anymore and slowly but steadily, the darkness around her dissipated. But it was not relief that was waiting for her._

_Instead, the screams came back full force, yelling at her that she was a murdered, a killer with no shame nor soul. That the spirit would punish her once she was dead. And now she could see._

_See what she had done._

_The illness was everywhere. The Sankru village was burning to ashes, the fire was consuming every house, every body near enough to the red flames' grasp. And blood. Blood soaking the sand under her feet, poisoning the air. Long gone was the fresh scent of the yellow desert. Now the place was stinking with the smell of burned bodies, of sick people emptying their stomach, coughing out dark-red blood. Agonizing screams and cries surrounded her, the little boy she had personally poisoned was staring at her with void eyes, dried blood staining his clothes, his expression frozen in the death._

_She started panicking. She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to relive it._

_The child crying in front of her, confused and ill, yelling that he wanted his mother. The war, unfolding around her, Trikru warriors slaughtering sick people that could barely stand on their feet. And she was among those warriors. She was the one who did it. It was her fault._

_All those lives were her fault._

_She felt something hot and sticky on her fingers and looked at her hands. She gasped in shock._

_They were dripping blood._

_She woke with a scream._

 

   Clarke jumped up in a seated position, the cool air of the late night hitting her bare skin, causing a shiver to run through her body. Hot, salty tears were running on her cheeks but she couldn't bring herself to lift a hand and dry them, all she could do was tighten her hold on the furry blanket and hug it to her chest, whimpering while crying.

   "Clarke?" Lexa's voice reached her, sleepy and soft. "Clarke? A nightmare?"

   The blonde could only nod, feeling warm hands gently wiping away her tears, and strong arms holding her tight. Lexa held her against her chest, patiently waiting for the crying to subside. She didn't push her, she didn't ask her what the nightmare was about, she didn't tell her to stop crying. She just hugged her, protectively, slowly stroking her hair and humming a song, gradually calming her down. After a few more minutes, finally Clarke felt her tears dry and her breathing slow down to normal, and she melted in her girlfriend's hug, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

   "Which one?" Lexa asked in a whisper.

   Clarke knew what she was asking. They both had some recurring nightmares, from those times when they had to do something that had hurt them deeply, leaving a scar that would never truly fade. She had had that very nightmare so many times before. She would have it again, in the future. It was just how things were.

   She breathed shakily, sneaking her arms around the brunette's waist and hugging her tightly, breathing in her soothing presence. "The illness... in the Sankru village."

   She felt the girl nod in understanding, and they fell silent. There was no need for an explanation, they had both been through this same thing a lot of times before. Lexa knew that she just needed to wait, and the blonde would open up on her own whenever she was ready.

   In fact, after a while, she murmured: "I still remember his face." she paused for a second to gather herself. "He was just a child."

   The commander didn't need to ask, she knew who the girl was talking about. She remembered him too.

   "I'm a monster, Lex. I poisoned him and I smiled. I killed him. I... I..." a new fit of tears escaped her eyes and clung onto to Lexa like she was her lifeline. "It's all my fault."

   "No, Clarke." the brunette murmured in her blonde hair. "No."

   She made them lay down on the bed and covered them up with the furs, then she curled herself up all around Clarke, making sure to be pressed against her as much as possible. She knew the girl. She preferred to be comforted by actions rather than words. When she was this upset, she would seek physical contact. So that's what Lex was going to do. She was going to hold her as tightly as she could, humming a gentle melody, occasionally pressing a loving kiss on pale skin, until Clarke was back asleep.

   She felt for the girl in her arms. Seeing her hurting like that was one of the worst things she had ever had to witness. Clarke was a healer, she saved people's lives almost daily. But the war... the war had forced her to do some things that she would never forget, things that would still haunt her during her sleep. Paradoxically, Clarke was one of the few healers that knew how to handle the blood fever illness. Lexa's heart would break each time that memory would disturb her lover's dreams. She knew it was one of the most painful for her, but she couldn't do anything to help her. Only to give her comfort.

   "Hey, Lex?" a sleepy, slurred mumble reached her after almost half an hour, sign that final the blonde was feeling better and was ready to go back to sleep.

   "Yes, my love." she left a sweet kiss on the girl's shoulder.

   "I'm really happy I fell from the sky that day." Clarke murmured, her eyes closed. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

   The commander tugged her a little closer, until not even an inch of space was left between them. "Same goes for you, then."

   She felt, more than see, the girl open up in a little smile, trying to scoot a little nearer - as if that was even possible -. "Always stealing my words, Lex."

   "Sleep, Little Star."

   "I love you, Lexa."

   "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, too." Lexa lovingly kissed her hair. "Good night, love."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
> 
> NOTE: Since I don't plan on making the City of Life a thing here, this is most likely the last time we've seen Jaha.
> 
> Next Chapter: The Ark is seen falling towards earth and a lot of stuff start going to shit. But we'll see a little flashback of Clarke, Lexa and Costia, and Charlotte shares her fears with Tris.
> 
> Till next time!


	19. It's Raining Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy realizes he's an asshole, Charlotte shares her worries with Tris, and the tiniest flashback before things start going to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back guys! I promised you once a month, and you're getting once a month, even if it's the last day!  
> I'm sorry for making you wait this long, hope the chapter is worth it.  
> WARNING: some violence, if it bothers you, skip: 'In the forest, near the reapers' caves' part. I'll put a summary of it in the notes so you don't miss anything. Stay safe!  
> Sort of a cliffhanger at the end, sorry not sorry ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

 

   "The first group will leave in an hour. Get ready."

   The scouts nodded silently and left the tent with a bow. Lexa sighed, pinching the base of her nose while studying the map laid on the table. The injured scout that had survived the reapers' attack had pointed out a small clearing in the woods, near the caves that ran under the Mountain. To say that she was worried would have been an understatement. The reapers had never been this bold nor aggressive in their tactics, and the fact that they were literally going out of their way just to kidnap a few of her men was scary. Lexa couldn't help but wonder, what was pushing them to risk venturing out the caves like that. It was suspicious, and she had this feeling that the Mountain Men were plotting something. Which was an even worse scenario.

   "Heda, the men can see that you are worried." Gustus said, pulling her out of her dark thoughts. "It's making them worry as well."

   The woman straightened herself, slowly pacing in the throne hut. "I can't help it, Gustus. Something's going on with the Mountain Men, first they make that Skaikru ship crash on the ground, and now the reapers-"

   "I'm sorry, Heda," the man interrupted her, looking agitated. "if I may." Lexa just nodded at him and the big man took a step towards her. "You said the Mountain Men are behind the ship's accident? Are you sure?"

   The commander shook her head, resuming her pacing, and clasped her hands behind her back. "No, sadly. I can't be sure, but that sky boy said something messed with the ship's signals, or something." she bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. "No one among the clans has the knowledge necessary to do something like that. We didn't even know it was coming, until we saw it falling from the sky. The only people capable of doing it are the Skaikru themselves, and the Maunon, and I don't think the children from the Dropship would kill their own families."

   Gustus nodded, a little crease forming on his forehead. "I see. The Maunon are plotting something."

   "That's what I was thinking, too." Lexa stopped in the middle of the tent and looked at her big friend, her eyes shining with worry. "The reapers are becoming restless. They've been there for months, hiding in the caves, and now suddenly they come out and start kidnapping people."

   "What do you think?" Gustus asked.

   "I don't know what to think. Something's going on with the mountain," Lexa sighed heavily, slumping on her throne. "and I fear the day we'll discover what that something is."

 

    _The Dropship_

   Bellamy grunted when his weight fell on his bad leg for the umpteenth time, forcing him to reach for the Dropship's wall to stay on his feet. His shoulder was almost healed, only a little twinge of pain would make him grimace from time to time but it was doing fine. The real problem was his leg. The grounder, Costia, had said that it was doing good and that he could try his luck walking around the camp, but she had also warned him. The strength of that leg was compromised forever, and it would probably bother him for the rest of his life. She had called him lucky, to which he had scoffed at first, but then she had said that Anya wasn't one known to leave her enemies alive and in one piece, so he was actually pretty lucky. Rethinking about his brief - but still vividly scary - conversation with the general, at the end he had agreed with the girl, he was lucky he was even able to walk. Even if, at the moment, that particular activity wasn't exactly going well.

   Bellamy took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, and then tried again. Distancing himself from the wall, the boy regained his balance and took a couple steps. At first everything seemed good, but then his right knee gave out and he stumbled forward, getting a hold of the corner of a metallic table to avoid falling on his face. Annoyed with himself, he sat on the cold metal, staring angrily at the single, wooden crutch that Costia had left for him.

   "It's not forever." the brunette had said, rolling her eyes at him when he had just looked at the item with disgust. "You just need it until your leg gets used to support your weight again. Don't be a stubborn child and just take it."

   She had left him alone after that, for which he was grateful. He didn't want anyone to witness his weakened state. Half of his people already hated him, he didn't want to give them a reason to make fun of him too.

   Suddenly, he heard footsteps downstairs and then someone climbing the ladder, and he hastily got on his feet, wincing when he felt a stab of pain in his leg because of the sudden movement. Less than a second later, Miller was in front of him, studying him with a weird expression, a mix of annoyed and regretful.

   "You don't need to pretend that you're ok, Blake." he said, the annoyed part winning over the regret. "We all now that you got your ass handed to yourself at the bridge, anyway."

   Bellamy looked down at his feet, humiliation burning deep in his chest, but he tried to not let it show. When he didn't say anything, Miller just rolled his eyes at him and took a few steps forward, finally noticing the crutch laying in a corner.

   "Listen. The grounders said that a group of them's arriving this afternoon and that they need some sort of command room or shit like that." the boy started, crossing his arms on his chest. "We voted and decided that this room is the best option so you need to get your ass out of here so we can prepare it for when they arrive."

   "What?" Bellamy gasped, surprised and annoyed, forgetting for a moment about the pain in his leg. "You voted? And what about my vote, does it mean nothing what I think?" he said, the disapproval evident in his voice.

   "Actually, it doesn't." Nathan looked at him with clear anger, and took a small step towards him. "We voted about that too, you know? After your brilliant ideas like tie the grounders up and torture them, ore use their fucking princess as a thing to trade for supplies, we decided that you aren't a good source of ideas."

   The dark-haired boy just stared at him wide-eyed, disbelief and realization creeping up in his mind. He was so surprised and shocked that he just couldn't say anything, and Miller took that as his clue to continue.

   "You almost caused a war." he pointed out. "We all were so stupid to listen to you instead of Wells, because of all that 'chancellor of the ground' shit that you and Murphy kept telling us, but guess what?" the boy scoffed, shaking his head. "Murphy has left with Wells yesterday, to go see the grounders' village. He left you behind, too."

   Bellamy tried to recover, refusing to just let someone walk over him like that, and said: "I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was protecting us!"

   "Well, you weren't!" Miller spitted out, like saying those words was physically hurting him with all the anger, disappointment and regret seeping through them. "You weren't, Bellamy. And we, _I_ , should have said something. Should have stopped you. I'm sorry I didn't. But I admit that I was wrong, and I'm trying to make things right, now." he took a deep breath, calming himself down. "You should do the same."

   Bellamy didn't say anything, he couldn't. Shame was eating him up from the inside, the words Miller had said, hell the words that Costia had said to him, were making him question every decision he had taken since landing on the ground. It was true that he had only tried to keep Octavia safe, to keep everyone safe, and since the grounders had thrown a spear at Jasper, he had just assumed that they were enemies. And you fight with your enemies. But maybe, he hadn't protected them, he had put them all in an even worse danger.

   For as much as he didn't want to be seen like that, the boy carefully got the crutch and started heading down the ladder, almost falling on his ass. With his jaw clenched and his hold on the crutch so tight that his knuckles were turning white, he swallowed his pride and slowly made his way out of the Dropship.

 

    _In the woods_

   Clarke was playing softly with Rufus' dark mane, swaying gently with every movement of the horse. The trip from TonDC to the Dropship wasn't long, but it would take enough to leave her some time to think about the plans she had for when the rest of Skaikru arrived. Lexa had suggested they made an alliance, and with the motivation of the Maunon's possible responsibility of the Exodus ship's crashing, have them helping with the impending war. She really hoped that they would accept, their army wasn't complete - it would take a couple days for the rest of the warriors to arrive from their villages -, and she didn't want to fight on two fronts.

   "You're thinking too hard." Anya's voice took her out of her own head, and when she turned her mother was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Missing Lexa, already?"

   Clarke shook her head. "Just thinking about stuff."

   "You're just like her, Clarke." the woman said in a soft tone. "You worry too much."

   The blonde chuckled, her blue eyes shining with amusement. "Yes, we do."

   They fell silent again, until Anya got bored and turned to her right. "So, Wells." she started suddenly, staring at the boy. "Clarke told me you two were friends, once."

   The dark-skinned boy, clearly uncomfortable - not only because of the woman's eyes wearing a hole in his head but also because this saddle was even more awful that the other one he had tried the day before -, adjusted his position on the horse and nodded, glancing at the two.

   "It's true. Our parents had known each other since they were young and are still friends." Wells said, not noticing the way the general had grimaced when she heard the words 'our parents'.

   "I see." the woman nodded, leaning forward on her horse's, Kedra, long neck. "She said that you used to bring her things to draw. Can you draw, as well?"

   "Hum, no. I just brought her those things because I liked her drawings." he shrugged, not giving it much thought. He used to trade his own things for those supplies, but he wasn't one to brag so he didn't feel the need to point that out. "I did help her paint her father's face once, though."

   Those words seemed to do the trick, because Anya's face suddenly lightened up, and she straightened her back with a wide smile.

   "Nomon, no." Clarke begged seeing the woman's expression.

   "Ssh, Clarke." she dismissed her, earning an eye roll from her daughter. "So this actually reminds me of that time Clarke and her friends decided to paint all the horses in TonDC."

   "Mom, really, just don't." Clarke said again, trying to appear serious, but the smile stretching her lips was giving her away.

   Wells felt his own lips starting to bend in a small smile. He liked this version of the two women, they were always so serious and scary, concentrated on their mission, on their responsibilities, that seeing them relaxed and smiling was a great feeling. Things like that made him believe that there was a real chance, for this still fragile peace among their peoples, to last.

   "She painted the horses?" he hasked, curious to hear the story.

   Anya nodded, a little smile on her lips and her eyes shining. "Yes, and she dragged into this Lexa and Costia as well. They were barely adolescents, and Clarke had gotten a roving artist to teach her how to make paints out of little crumbled stones and plants." the woman said, pride evident in her voice. On her left, the blonde girl was just shaking her head, petting her horse. The general continued. "So one day, she prepares paints of a few different colors, I remember that there were yellow and red for sure."

   "And blue." Clarke added, not even looking their way.

   "And blue." Anya nodded, shifting on the saddle and making sure that Wells was still listening. "Then she goes and finds Lexa and Costia and together they wait for the night to come. When it's dark, the three take the paint and go out, sink their little hands in said paints, and then..."

 

    _Flashback - two years before the Conclave_

    _"Ssh, girls! They'll hear us!"_

_Costia chuckled, holding the bucket of yellow paint in her hands. "If they see us, we're dead. That makes this so much funnier!"_

_A fourteen years old Lexa shook her head, smiling at her friends, with the blue paint securely held in her arms. "I still don't know why I agreed to this, but it's better if we get a move on. You two are so slow that the sun will be raising and we'll still be here."_

_Costia narrowed her eyes at the brunette, a teasing glint in her eyes. "You agreed because Clarke stared at you with her big, blue eyes. And you melted. And we're not slow."_

_The nightblood blushed, her cheeks turning a cute pink, and she looked down at her feet, mumbling: "Shut up."_

_"Ok, we're ready." Clarke said, running back from where she went to make sure the guards were gone. The blonde smirked devilishly, wiggling her eyebrows. "Let's go paint some horses."_

_***_

_Anya saw the three girls starting to leave colored handprints on every horse present in TonDC, and widened her eyes. No way she was letting those little criminals paint her horse. She threw a coat on her shoulders and ran to the stables._

_Quickly, she hid Kedra where the girls could never find him._

_***_

_"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Lexa whispered, sinking her hands in the blue paint and then leaving a trail of handprints all over Nyko's white mare. "Titus would have my head."_

_"From what I've heard of him, Titus is a pain in the ass." Clarke answered, giggling. "I mean, we're allowed to have fun?" she left two red handprints around a horse's eyes, making it look like he was wearing a mask. "Same goes for you, then."_

_"She's right, Lexa." Costia chimed in. "Just because you're a natblida, doesn't mean you have to be depressed."_

_"Yeah. You're too cool to get depression." Clarke added with a smirk and a shrug._

_"Same goes for you, then." Lexa mocked her, throwing the blonde her own smirk._

_The girl gasped, faking sconcert. "You just complimented me stealing my own words? I expected better from you."_

_The three just chuckled, sinking their hands in the paint and leaving colored prints on every horse. Until they stepped in front of Rahlo, Indra's grey stallion. He was looking at them with a bored and unimpressed look in his eyes, as if to say: 'you sure you want to do this?'. The three girls looked at each other, the half empty buckets of paint still in their arms._

_After a few minutes of deliberation, Costia said: "I think we should skip him."_

_"Yeah."_

_"Agreed."_

_***_

_A few hours later, Anya had wanted to check on the three delinquents to make sure that they were still alive._ _She found them in front of Indra's horse, staring at him with worried expressions._ Ha! _, she thought amused,_ they're too scared of Indra to actually try and paint him.

_She looked as they decided to skip him and started to go back home, satisfied with their successful mischief. But an idea was creeping up in the general's mind, and so, when the three went to get rid of the paint on their hands, she stole the buckets. All three of them, and then ran back to Rahlo. The two stared menacingly at each other for a few minutes, but then Anya won and started smirking._

_She sank her hands in the first bucket._

_***_

_The morning after, the village woke up to a scream._

_Then another, then another, and soon every single horse owner in the village was yelling that some damn child had painted their horse, shouting expletives and examining the animals to see if the paint could be washed away. When Indra went to check on Rahlo, she gritted her teeth and tightened her fists so much that she looked like she was having some sort of attack._

_Obviously, Anya was walking happy and relaxed around the village, almost laughing out loud at the astonished faces of the people that asked her why Kedra hadn't been painted._ _Clarke, Lexa and Costia couldn't resist, but when they finally saw Rahlo's state, the laughter died in their throats. He was completely covered in red, blue and yellow paint, but the handprints on him where too big to belong to one of them._

_They didn't take long to discover the culprit, though._ _When they saw Anya walk proudly towards Indra with a shit eating grin on her face, it was clear who the fourth delinquent was._

 

    _Present - In the woods_

   "She came to us and said: 'I won't say anything if you don't say anything, kids. Do we have a deal?" Clarke ended the story with a smirk, the memory of that happy time with her friends and family making her feel all warm inside.

   "Indra still doesn't know who painted her horse, it's so funny that she's still mad." Anya said, smiling proudly. "I almost want to tell her just to see her face."

   Behind them, Aghon snorted, finally making his presence known. "I wish I was there to see it."

   "Oh, don't worry." Clarke said with an evil smile on her lips. "One day we'll do it again, so you'll even be able to participate."

   Wells chuckled quietly. Listening to that story had made him realize that Clarke was still Clarke. He hadn't really seen her as his childhood friend until now, they both were so different from when they were eight. But that story, _that_ Clarke was so much more like the little girl he had missed for years. His friend. That thought made him hope that maybe, one day, he could actually have her back.

   They were different, and yet they were still the same.

 

    _In the forest, near the reapers' caves_

   Lincoln and the other scouts reached the small clearing in the woods, where the ripas had captured their people. It was a well hidden place, covered by the trees on one side, and the Mountain on the other. In the light of the late morning, the traces of the battle were clearly visible. Blood stained the grass, and a red trail of it lead further in the forest, disappearing among the trees. They followed it, carefully, paying attention to every sound and every movement.

   "Be careful." Lincoln murmured to his companions. "The ripas are near."

   The other scouts nodded silently, studying their surroundings. Slowly, the group followed the red trail until they reached another clearing, smaller than the other one. They stopped dead in their track when they saw the large pool of blood, staining the grey rocks scattered all around, and seeping in the ground, releasing a sickening, metallic smell in the air. Everything was extremely quiet, too quiet, even. There was no sound except the scouts' breaths and steps, not a bird chirping, not an animal moving, nothing. A few feet away, hidden by the bushes, was the entrance of a cave.

   Lincoln and Nadia crouched next to the blood pool, examining it with a grimace and covering their noses with the sleeve to try and keep the nausea at bay, while the others checked the surrounding area. Suddenly Nadia frowned, extended an arm and dipped two fingers in the red liquid, retracting them wet and blood stained.

   "What...?" she stared at her own fingers for a few seconds, then her wide eyes met Lincoln's.

   "What is it?" the man asked, worried, feeling a sense of danger stirring in his chest. "What's wrong?"

   The woman signed to him to do the same as her, and touch the blood staining the ground. He did, and when his fingertips reached the liquid, they sinked ever so slightly. He retracted his hand with a disgusted expression, hating the feeling of slick, dense wetness on his skin.

   "It's still fresh." Nadia whispered, her voice clearly upset. "The attack was two days ago. It shouldn't be fresh."

   The realization downed on the man in few seconds, and when it finally hit him, Lincoln jumped on his feet shouting with all the air in his lungs.

   "IT'S A TRAP! WE NEED TO RUN AWA-"

   Before he could even finish the sentence, a dozen of reapers with spears and swords came out of the cave, screaming and charging at them. The scouts unsheated their swords, ready to fight. The two groups collided.

   It was a mess of metallic clashes and war cries. Everyone was fighting, the scouts were outnumbered and the attack had taken them by surprise. Lincoln defended himself with courage, managing to injure his attacker, the man's sword slicing through the reaper's arm, but another was already on him. It was a moment. The second reaper jumped against him with a wild scream, and chocked him with a rope around his neck. The dark skinned man tried to free himself, to shake the monster off his back, but he didn't have the strength. His lungs were desperate for air, his limbs were starting to get numb and he had black spots in his vision.

   Suddenly, the rope around his neck vanished and he could breathe again, but he was limp, his lungs were burning, and before he knew it he was already on the ground, one step away from passing out. A few feet away from him, Nadia was already fainted, and a reaper was tying her up.

   The last thing Lincoln was able to think about before fainting was Octavia's face, and the glint in her eyes when Indra had taken her as her second, the proud set of her shoulders, her chin held high. Then his mind went blank, his eyes rolled back, and everything became black and quiet.

   He passed out.

 

    _The Dropship_

   Bellamy huffed, frustrated with himself but most of all with Monroe. The girl kept telling him that she couldn't change everyone's mind, and that if they didn't want him to be able to vote, then that was just how things were. The same thing had happened with Fox, Sterling, Miles and just everyone he had talked to. It was frustrating and he was angry. He didn't like being kept in the dark, yet when he asked were the grounder doctor, Costia, was, he had been told that she had already left.

   Muttering expletives - some of them directed to his leg - while limping around the camp, the boy started looking for Octavia. He hoped that she would have been up to a little chat, there were things he wanted to tell her. In the last few days, their relationship had been kind of strained, Bellamy had done some questionable things, and while he was doing them trying to protect her, he also knew that he owed her an explanation. He might often be selfish, but if there was one thing that he cared about deeply, it was Octavia. His sister was all the family he had left, and it was his responsibility to keep her safe.

   After almost an hour of pointlessly roaming the camp hoping to spot her, he finally got tired of all the stares and decided to just ask someone. He hated the pitying stares, he wasn't broken, or fragile, and he sure as hell didn't want anyone's compassion. Huffing, Bellamy slowly limped his way toward Jasper, that was busy organizing the food rations. Clutching the crutch so tightly that his arm was shaking and his knuckles were turning white, he stopped in front of the boy, that looked up at him without stopping his work.

   "Hey, Bellamy. You're back on your feet, I see." the boy with goggles threw him a nervous smile, before focusing back on the food.

   Bellamy cleared his throat, observing the boy doing his stuff. "Yeah... I'm looking for my sister. Do you know where she is?"

   Jasper froze and then raised his eyes to look at him with an agitated expression. "You don't know?"

   The older boy gritted his teeth, trying to not let it show that he was on edge, and took a long breath. "Obviously I don't know Jasper, or I wouldn't be asking you."

   "Oh." Jasper looked down at his hands, trying to find the right words. He already knew that the other boy was going to get mad. "She... she went to the grounder's village yesterday with the others."

   Bellamy froze, blinked a few times staring at his friend and then gaped like a fish, an horrified expression taking place on his face. "What?" he gasped, his eyes wide. "Why did nobody stop her? Fuck!"

   "Woah, easy Bellamy. She's with Wells and the others, she's ok." Jasper said. "I mean, I get it. I'm scared of them as well, they almost killed me, but... we're good now. They're not the enemy anymore."

   Bellamy wanted desperately to pace, but his damn leg wouldn't allow him to. He passed his free hand, the one that wasn't holding the crutch, on his face and pressed it on his eyes, trying to calm down. "Jasper, you don't understand." he started. "I tortured one of them, I messed everything up, ok? And she's my sister, what if they decide that they want revenge? Huh? They could hurt her, they-"

   "Oh my God, stop!" another voice interrupted him mid sentence. When he turned, he saw Harper staring at him with an annoyed expression in her eyes. "You talk like the grounders give a fuck about you. They don't even know who you are. They won't want revenge."

   "How do you know?! I tortured them, their general wanted to kill me but she can't because we have a truce. What happens if she decides that she doesn't care?" he rambled, too agitated to hold back.

   Harper rolled her eyes, stepping closer and crossing her arms on her chest. "Bellamy, it _won’t_ happen. And even if it did, she would try to get to you, not your sister. But it won't."

   "How do you know?!" he yelled, not being able to hold back the storm in his chest.

   "Because I actually _talked_ to them!" the girl yelled back, uncrossing her arms and taking a few steps towards him, her eyes on fire. "If you had taken the time to learn something about the grounders, you would know too. It's their law. She could get killed." Harper took a deep breath trying to calm down a bit. "Your sister is safe. And so are you."

   With those words the blonde just turned her back to him and strode away, telling Jasper to get back to work. Left alone in the middle of the camp, Bellamy just stood there, holding himself up with the crutch. His eyes gravitated towards the grounders, that seemed to have become an important part of the camp. Several delinquents were currently speaking to them, and a few grounders were lazily roaming the camp, eyeing curiously various parts of the Dropship. Everyone seemed to be perfectly at ease.

   In that moment, Bellamy admitted to himself that he was just being stupid, behaving like a selfish asshole without any real motive. With new determination, he wiped the lonely tear that had escaped his eye, and started looking for a good way to make himself useful. It was time to start making his mother proud.

***

   The room that the delinquents had prepared for them to use as a command room in the Dropship wasn't that bad. Actually, it was pretty good. Clarke, Anya, Wells and Monty had spent a few hours discussing the various rules that came with the truce, and had tried to come up with a good plan for when the rest of the sky people came. If they wanted to ensure an alliance, they needed some help from the delinquents, but up until now, most of them seemed pretty ok with that.

   They were taking a break when Clarke ran into Bellamy. The boy seemed to be out looking for something, and once she got nearer the girl could make out some words that he was saying. He was clearly looking for something to do, like a job of some sorts, but with his leg so screwed up nobody really needed his help. Now he was there, defeated, with his shoulders slumped and his head down.

   "Hey, you." Clarke called him, suddenly, walking closer.

   The boy's head snapped up, his eyes wide. For a moment he looked around, as if searching for someone - Anya - and when he didn't find her he let out a little sigh of relief.

   "Yes?" he asked her, worried but calm.

   "Why don't you go and make yourself useful? You're not helping anyone standing there and doing nothing." Clarke told him, her voice serious but not enough to result threatening.

   "I'm..." Bellamy cleared his throat and straightened his back, trying to appear more confident. "I'm looking for stuff to do, actually."

   The blonde just rolled her eyes at him, and nodded towards Monty’s tent. "Fine, so go and help Monty with the radio. You won't need your leg for that."

 

    _TonDC_

   "Monty can you hear me? Here's Raven, come in." she waited a few seconds. "Raven from TonDC, Monty do you fucking hear me or no? Over."

   "Are you sure that you're doing it right?"

   Raven slowly turned her head to look at her small public, all huddled up in the small tent. Tris and Charlotte were the closest to her, being little and kinda short the others had let them stay in the front. Behind them, Murphy and Gustus were observing her looking respectively bored and curious.

   Letting her brown eyes fall on Tris, Raven fought back a biting remark and forced a smile. " _Of course_ I'm doing it right, blondie. Of fuc- freaking course."

   "Well, but it's not working." The little grounder pointed out, looking deadly serious. "Is it?"

   Raven gritted her teeth, desperately holding back to avoid telling the girl that _damn_ , her radio worked. It fucking worked, ok, if something was wrong then it had to be at the Dropship. Not her radio, hell no. Her radio was a goddamn work of technological art. But she was talking to a grounder child who had no idea what a radio actually was, so she kept the smile firmly in its place and tried not to sound like a bitch when she answered her.

   "Well, _obviously_ something isn't going the way it should, but it's _not_ because of me. Or because of _my radio_. If you could just stop with your third grade then _maybe_ I could concentrate and come up with a solution."

   Ok, so. She did an awful job with the don't-sound-like-a-bitch thing, but at least she had gotten her point through.

   Charlotte and Tris just stared at her for a few moments, then the first one leaned in and whispered in the grounder's ear: "She just can't get it to work."

   "You little-"

   Raven was halfway to get up when a slim figure and a lot of messy brown hair entered the tent. Costia smiled brightly, looking at everyone in the tent with a carefree spark in her eyes.

   "Hi. What did I miss?" she asked.

   "Raven can't get it to work." Tris answered, before disappearing with her friend, giggling.

   Raven just slumped back on her chair, huffing annoyed, and Costia chuckled, clasping her hands in front of herself, a little smile still present on her lips.

   "Being friends with Charlotte is really helping Tris, you know." she said, slowly walking around the tent. "She was always so serious, after her mother died. It's good that she's making friends."

   "Yeah." Raven exhaled lightly, letting go of the nervousness and allowing a little smile to bend the corners of her lips. "It's the same for Charlotte."

   They stayed in a quiet silence for a while, Costia now comfortably sat on a pillow on the floor, staring intently at the radio. After a few minutes, the girl suddenly huffed and turned to look alternatively at Raven, Murphy and Gustus.

   "I just remembered." she adjusted her position on the pillow and crossed her legs. "While I was at your Dropship, a guy came to me with this creepy smile on his face, and said: 'Hey, do you have a moment for me?', so I said 'Sure'. I mean I was there to help, right?"

   Everyone in the tent nodded, even Murphy, that looked surprisingly interested now. Maybe it was just the technology that bored him to death. Costia saw their nods and continued, a little crease appearing between her eyes.

   "Alright, so. I said: 'What is it?', and then he just came a little closer and said: 'You know, my friends say I'm strong, because I can pick you up.'" the girl blinked, looking both confused and offended. "I wanted to slap him, but I didn't. Do you think I'm fat?"

   Only a few seconds passed in utter silence, then both Raven and Murphy started laughing so hard that they had tears in their eyes. The baffled expressions evident on the grounders' faces weren't really helping them, just making them laugh harder.

   "I'm serious, guys." Costia mumbled with a pout. "It wasn't nice, approaching me like that just to tell me that I looked fat. Which I don't, right? I look fine."

   The two delinquents were basically dying, and while Gustus was holding back a wary smile, Costia was just confused. She didn't say anything, but when Raven's laugh started to look like she was in apnea, the grounder wasn't able to hold back her own grin.

   "Seriously though, do you think I'm fat?"

***

    _"R-en, it's Mon-y. -o you he- me? Over."_

   Upon hearing the voice coming out of the radio, the brunette sprung into action and grabbed the mic, pressing the speak button.

   "Fucking finally. Where have you been?" she asked, annoyed that the boy had taken so long to answer that Costia and Gustus had exited the tent to go do their business, and Murphy was again so bored he had fallen asleep and was now snoring lightly from a corner of the tent.

    _"I'm so-ry, we were di-us-ing stuff in the comm-d room with -nya and Clarke."_

   Raven sighed, closing her eyes only for a few seconds before grabbing the mic and setting up to work.

   "Allright, but I don't hear you well. Hang on, we'll sort this out."

***

   "Hey, Tris."

   The young girl turned to look at her with questioning eyes. "Yes?"

   "Do you think that you could bare the sight of the person that killed your mother?" Charlotte asked, her face serious.

   Tris furrowed her eyebrows, thinking hard about her friend's question. After a moment, she sighed deeply, her shoulders slumped. "I don't know. I don't know who killed her, my dad said that it was war, and that I shouldn't keep thinking about it." she pouted and shrugged, her expression suddenly really sad. "He said that I will probably never find out who killed my mom, and so I should just try to move on."

   "Mmm." the blonde girl just sat there, looking far in the distance without really seeing anything. "I know who killed my parents, though." she said darkly, drawing Tris' attention back to herself. "It was Wells' father. He's the chancellor."

   The grounder scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Your friend, Wells? His father killed your parents?"

   Charlotte nodded slowly, trying not to cry. She took a deep breath and sniffed. "He's good, he's my friend. He helps me when I have nightmares." the child used her sleeve to wipe her nose. "But his father, he- he floated my parents."

   "Floated?"

   "It means that you get thrown in space. You can't breathe there, and it's really cold." she sniffed again. "You just die."

   "Oh."

   "I just-" Charlotte sighed, her eyes down. "I don't think I'm ready to see him again. Not after everything."

   After only a few seconds the sky girl felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, and before she knew what was happening she found herself in the grounder's arms. It was like that hug had lifted every single barrier she had built to control herself, and now the tears were running freely down her cheeks, her bottom lip quivered and all she could do was fist the other girl's shirt in her hands. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, without saying a word. After a few minutes, Tris started crying too, and the tears only stopped when they were too tired to keep going, sleep finally claiming them, bringing them only quietness. They were too tired to have nightmares.

   Tris' father, Jorden, found them like that, laying on his daughter's bed, still hugging and deeply asleep. He smiled sadly, grabbing a blanket and gently draping it over the two small bodies. He then kissed their foreheads and exited the room, his heart heavy.

   Every time he looked at his daughter, he would feel a pang of hurt and his chest would tighten painfully. She looked so much like her mother, Jenna. She was the bravest woman he had ever met. She was the most beautiful creature. And she was so, so caring. She would have known what to do to comfort the little sky girl, if she was still there. She always knew how to make people feel better.

   Jorden wished his wife was still here. He just wanted her back.

   But that's not how it worked, was it?

 

    _The Dropship_

   Clarke and Anya were still in the command room of the Dropship, discussing with Wells about the rifles they had found in that old bunker weeks ago. Aghon's presence was silent and soothing, but the atmosphere was everything but calm in that room.

   "Look, Wells, I get your point, ok? But we can't just let you walk around with those weapons, our people would never trust you." Clarke said, her clear blue eyes fixated on the boy.

   He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I know that, but we can't just use knives and spears. Our people never had anything of the sort, and we won't just learn how to use them in a few days." he said, trying to emphasize his argument. "It takes time, and we need to go hunting, to start farming something or we'll never be auto sufficient."

   Anya huffed, her eyes throwing daggers at the dark skinned boy. "If you think that we will allow you bunch of children to go hunting with _guns_ then you are awfully mistaken, sky boy." she said in a low voice. "You would scare all the animals, and then not only you would be starving, but our people as well. And besides, I don't trust anyone with a gun in their hands."

   "And neither does our people." Clarke added.

   "Ok, but-" Wells tried to give them a reason to trust him, but he got cut off immediately.

   "You said you don't even know how to use them." Clarke pointed out, staring at him. "Why should we let you, then? You could make more damage than good."

   "Ok, it's true, _we_ don't know how to use them." Wells admitted. "But Bellamy does."

   Clearly that wasn't the right thing to say, because in less than a second Anya was up and angry, and the boy was sure that she hadn't punched him square in the face only because Clarke had been fast enough to grab her arm to keep her still. The general was evidently mad, now, though, and her brown eyes had a dangerous spark in them. When she talked, her voice was a low growl that sent chills through the boy's - and Aghon's - spine.

   "If you think that I will let that son of a bitch walk around with anything different from a bunch of fucking flowers in his hands, you are wrong. Again. You will have to walk over my dead body before that happens!" the woman said, clenching her fists.

    _"Nomon, calm down."_ Clarke murmured, effectively calming her down enough that she didn't look like she was ready to kill someone anymore. At least in Clarke's eyes.

   Wells wanted to say something, to try and solve the situation, but right when he was about to speak a scream from outside the Dropship made them all jump. Once they got outside, they saw that everyone was already there, staring at the sky.

    _"Oh, I can't believe it."_ Anya muttered under her breath, holding Clarke's hand to ground herself.

   By their side, Aghon was in awe of the scene that was unfolding in front of him. _"Wow."_ he breathed out with a shocked expression. _"It looks like it's raining fire."_

   And Clarke had to admit that he was right. Up there in the sky, several balls of fire were falling towards the ground, a few were on their own, like big, red drops wrapped up in frames. And among them all, the shooting star. It was the biggest part of it all. A long, scary, dangerous, ship of fire was falling from the sky like a deadly bullet, putting on an amazing show. And scaring them halfway to death.

   "Is that...?" Clarke asked, quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

   Wells nodded, never taking his eyes away from the sky.

   "It's the Ark."

 

   Clarke was still holding for dear life onto her mother's hand, and she wasn't planning on letting go of it anytime soon. Aghon was ecstatic, he kept saying that he wished his little Mira could have seen the wonderful scene of the space ship falling to earth in a ball of fire, he was so in awe that he was actually kind of cute.

   They were all so focused on what was happening in the sky, that they didn't pay attention to the ground. That's why nobody noticed the danger until it was too late.

   Suddenly, several smoke grenade landed among them, rolling on the ground and looking armless. But the grounders knew what they were, a few of them managed to let out a panicked scream, but before any of them could actually say anything, warn the others of what was happening, a thick red smoke surrounded them.

   Clarke felt Anya try to tighten her hold on her hand, but their limbs were heavier and heavier. Her head was spinning, her eyes were unfocused, and she felt confused like after drinking too much syder. She fell on the ground without even knowing it, she thought she heard screams but her mind was so fogged up that it could have been an illusion.

   Anya tried to help her daughter up, but the fog had weakened her, and she stumbled. Without even knowing how, she found herself on the ground, she tried to get up, to do something, anything, but she couldn't. She started crying, she needed to save Clarke, she couldn't let the mountain men have her, she had to protect her Little Star at all costs. She was terrified and angry, she tried once again to get up, but her body just wouldn't respond to her, and she gave up. With the little strength she still had in herself, Anya grabbed the blonde's hand and intertwined their fingers.

   In the corner of her eye, Clarke thought she saw Aghon cover up his nose and unsheat his sword, ready to fight. A few seconds later, though, he was on the ground as well, his chest heaving with the effort to try and stay awake. He met her eyes and she saw the deep shame and regret carved in his expression. The deep disappointment in himself, the tiredness in his gaze. He couldn't protect her. That was his job but he had failed. She saw the pain that thought caused to him and she wished she could have done something, she wished she had the strength to speak and say him that it wasn't his fault.

   Instead, Clarke felt a overwhelming fear running through her body and she shivered, her left hand searching the hilt of her sword, trying to wrap her fingers around it, but she was too weak. Her arm felt like it was useless, too far from her mind to actually control it. She felt the warmth of her mother's skin touch her, and she realized that the woman was holding her hand. Clarke wanted to cry, she wanted to fight, but she couldn't. She thought about Lexa, and felt her heart contract from the pain that thought caused her. Lexa. She was going to be devastated, she was going to suffer so much, and Clarke didn't want it. She _didn’t want_ it. Tears found their way to her eyes and she cried, looking at Anya for comfort.

   The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was her mother's eyes boring into hers, and tears staining the woman's cheeks.

   Then everything became quiet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF YOU SKIPPED because of the warning:  
> Lincoln and other scouts investigate the zone where the reapers kidnapped their people, but they fall in an ambush and are now the reapers' prisoners.
> 
> Hope you liked it and that there weren't too many mistakes!  
> Feel free to yell at me in the comments, feedback is always appreciated! :)
> 
> Next Chapter: Raven and Finn chat, and our commander is conflicted: Lexa or Heda?
> 
> See you next month!


	20. Just Because He's Not Perfect Doesn't Mean He's Not Beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa's reaction to the Maunon's attack, and Raven and Finn clear things up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a filler with some plot.
> 
> WARNING: things get sad and maybe a bit angsty, and someone has a panick attack. It's not overly descripted, but if it bothers you, skip when Costia enters the tent. It's at the end of the chapter. Stay safe.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

   Recap: Raven built a radio in TonDC, so they can talk to the Dropship. Bellamy has lost his power among the delinquents and has started to see his mistakes, Lincoln fell in an ambush of the reapers and Clarke, Anya and Wells were discussing politics when the Mountain Men attacked the Dropship. The Ark fell.

 

   "Monty? Monty did you see that? It's the Ark!" Raven practically shouted in the radio, exited and full of new energy. "Monty for Christ sake answer the damn radio! I didn't fucking build it just so it could go to waste!" still nothing. "Monty, do you copy?"

   " _Raven? Raven!_ " Suddenly Bellamy's voice came out of the radio, sounding hurried and slightly panicked. " _Raven we need help!_ "

   "Bellamy?" she said, surprised and slightly annoyed. "Bellamy now is not the time ok? Go get me Monty and stop messing with my baby."

   " _NO! No, Raven! We're under attack, send help!_ "

   Holy fucking shit. "What? Under attack? But who-"

   " _I don't know Raven! There are people in hazmat suit, they're attacking us! SEND HELP, QUICK!_ "

   After that she heard a few gun shots, a scream and a series of loud noises, then the line went silent.

   "Oh fuck. Oh no. No no no no no!"

   Raven let the mic fall on the table and ran out of the tent like a psycho. She quickly scanned the crowd looking for the commander, and when she didn't see her, the girl immediately started running towards the throne tent in the middle of the village. The guards stopped her, but the commander had probably recognized her complaining voice because after a few moments they heard her say that she could enter. Raven stormed into the hut, panting heavily, and saw Lexa sat on her throne with several maps on her lap, carefully studying them with Gustus by her side.

   "Do you need something, Raven of the Sky People?" the commander asked quietly, never stopping to glare at the maps.

   "Ye- yes." Raven tried to suck in enough air to speak a whole sentence. "The mountain men are attacking the Dropship."

   ///

   Lexa's mind was completely frozen. She couldn't think.

    _The mountain men are attacking the Dropship._

   There was only one thing in her mind now, a name running back and forth with restless agitation. Clarke. Clarke was at the Dropship, with Anya. Her family was there, under attack. She had to do something.

   After the little moment of shock, Heda got up from her throne with fire in her eyes and shaking hands. Without the tiniest bit of hesitation, she strode out of the tent with Gustus on her heels and started shouting orders at her warriors, that immediately stopped whatever they were doing to obey to their commander.

   " _Prepare to leave, the Maunon are attacking! Everyone get ready, any of you that is able to leave now,_ " she jumped on her horse, " _FOLLOW ME!_ "

   In an instant, dozens of warriors were already on their horses, launching them in a crazy gallop through the woods, blindly following the woman.

   Racing through the trees, Lexa could feel her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. Her hands, free of gloves, were clammy and cold. She couldn't seem to calm her breath, nor stop the river of nightmare-like thoughts that kept invading her mind. Thoughts of Clarke captured by the mountain men, of Anya killed in cold blood, of her beautiful, amazing girl held prisoner and turned into a monster by the mounon. The ride seemed to go on forever. That single hour felt like a decade, and every passing second Lexa's heart felt heavier. She almost couldn't see where she was going, the tears in her eyes were fogging up her sight, but she just wouldn't let them go. She couldn't. She knew that if she let the first salty tear fall, the others would follow and she wouldn't have been able to stop them. Lexa would have done it, but she wasn't just Lexa, now.

   She was Heda, and Heda doesn't cry.

   Guided by her own fear and desperate need to save her family and her people, the woman pushed Hera to gallop faster among the trees, her little army hot on her heels, ready to fight.

   When they arrived at the Dropship, though, there wasn't anyone left to fight.

   The mountain men hadn't taken everyone. Bellamy's warning through the radio had rushed them, so they had taken the most of them, but not everyone. The ones that were still there, were all lying on the ground, seemingly asleep. Actually, they were all passed out because of the red smoke, and so none of them could have helped Lexa and her warriors, now. She saw Aghon lying several feet away, and immediately she rushed towards him, knowing that if Clarke was still there, she would have been near the man. The little spark of hope died in her chest the moment she saw Clarke's and Anya's belongings on the ground. Her heart gave a painful squeeze, and her lungs burnt, refusing to let the air invade them.

   The woman bit her bottom lip to prevent it from quivering, she clenched her fists to keep her hands from trembling, and tried to regulate her breathing once again, without success. After a few seconds, a consuming rage built up inside of her with the power of a storm, making her hands shake with anger, making her eyes spark with fury. Fear, terror, rage and determination mingled in her heart and the commander got up, turning towards her warriors.

   "Half of you stay here and care for the injured ones!" she commanded, rushing to her horse and jumping back on her. "The others with me, we'll hunt them down!"

    _TonDC_

   Raven was pacing like a demented, back and forth in the minuscule tent waiting for someone to use the radio to call her and ease her fears. But so long, no luck. God, it was so exhausting. Waiting for someone else to let you know that everything was ok. Not knowing anything was the worst thing she had ever felt.

   Murphy wasn't of any help, he was just sat there with a slightly worried gaze, but he didn't try to comfort her and she didn't ask him to.

   She knew she should have tried to contact the Ark by now, but she knew she needed the commander's permission and, by the way, Clarke's wellbeing wasn't exactly assured right now. What was Raven supposed to say if Jake or Abby asked her about the girl? Say the truth? Lie? Both? With a desperate sigh, she stopped her pacing and looked around the tent. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed by the small space and felt the need to go get some air.

   "I'm going out. Call me if there are news and for fuck's sake don't touch my radio." the brunette said to Murphy, before exiting the tent.

   ///

   Murphy glared at the tent's flap, wearing a hole in Raven's head.

   Why did she think that she could just order him around? Why did everyone always treat him like the last idiot on the planet? Sure, he had behaved in ways that didn't exactly do him honor, he knew that. He had treated people like shit a few times in the past, but he was better now. He was trying to get better every day, and he was tired of people always seeing him as the bad guy. He could do good things too. Now that he was away from the Ark, away from Thelonius Jaha, to be specific, he was calming down. Before, he was always so angry, at everything and everyone.

   Thelonius Jaha, he was the reason behind his rage. He was the man who had floated his father, he was the reason why his family had dismembered itself the way it did. After his father had gotten floated for stealing medicines to cure his son, her mother had thrown herself in alcohol. The woman that once had loved him with everything she had now blamed him for her husband's death. For a while, little John Murphy had believed her. He had felt so much guilt, so much pain, thinking that _he_ had killed his dad with his illness. He was in so much pain, that he had started to transform that pain and guilt in anger. It had been his way to cope.

   But now that he was on the ground, away from the past that tormented him, he was starting to feel lighter. Slowly, he was going back to being himself. Just himself, John Murphy. If only the others would let him. Nobody trusted him. Nobody cared about his thoughts, his suggestions, his words. They were just so sure that they already knew him enough to judge him, that they weren't even willing to actually listen, to get to know him better. It was so frustrating, so annoying, and so sad.

   He just wanted to start fresh, now, what the hell did he need to do to get another chance?

   ///

   "Raven! Raven wait!"

   The girl sighed heavily when she heard Finn's voice calling out to her, but she didn't stop. She really wasn't in the mood to fight, she was worried and tired and she even felt a bit guilty because of how she had snapped at Murphy earlier, in the tent. It was uncalled for, but it was too late for that now. It was too late for everything, at this point.

   "Raven! Can you please stop for a second?"

   The brunette groaned, still not stopping. "Not now, Finn!"

   She felt a hand wrap around her wrist and make her stop, turning her around to face the boy. He looked better, finally out of the medical tent and with his skin void of the color green, but bruises were clearly visible on his face and chin. His eyes were wide and pleading, and Raven found herself softening under his gaze.

   "What now, Finn?" she asked, sounding more tired than she felt.

   "I just- I just need to talk to you." he said, a little out of breath after having practically chased her through the village. "I just want to apologize."

   Raven snorted, wriggling her wrist out of his hold and crossing her arms defensively on her chest. "You want to apologize. For what, exactly?"

   "For everything." he took a deep breath, sinking his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and then he raised his head to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry for everything I did. Everything. I've been and idiot in general and an asshole to you and I swear I'm sorry for that."

   She watched him carefully, almost warily, as if to spot any sign that he was lying to her again, but she found none. She relaxed a tiny bit, but she wasn't ready to just move on.

   "It's not good enough, Finn. You _lied_ to me, for years. Then we get to earth and you keep lying, you treat me like shit and then you have the face to get angry at me. _At me_ , Finn, you get how fucked up that is?" she lashed out, finally freeing herself from the weight that she had felt on her heart for weeks, now. "You made me believe that you were in love with me, and it wasn't true. You made me believe that everything was going to be fine here on the ground, and then you spent your time thinking about another woman, all the time, even while we were having sex! I thought I could always trust you, I thought you would have always been my family, but in a family there is no space for lies, Finn!"

   She tried to calm her breath, but it was so hard to keep her emotions under control now. She was just furious, betrayed, disappointed and angry at herself for being stupid enough to fall for his lies. She believed everything he told her, he was her rock, her best friend, her _family_. And now? What were they now? For as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was terrified. The thought of losing him for good scared her deeply, making her insides tremble and her heart constrict painfully. She had never been alone, he was always there. And she wasn't sure that she was ready to face the world without him.

   "Raven," he murmured, shame evident in his eyes and his voice. "I know I hurt you. I- it's ironic really." he shook his head when he noticed the outraged look on Raven's face. "NO! Not like that! Just- I meant-" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I meant to say that it was never my intention to hurt you. Like, when I said that I was in love with you, I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn't want to hurt you with a rejection." he chuckled to himself, slightly shaking his head. "I didn't think that it could have hurt you even more to find out it wasn't true. God, I'm so stupid."

   "Yeah. You are."

   They both stood there without saying a word to each other for few, long minutes. They were a calm bubble in the middle of the chaotic village. Then, Finn sighed heavily, his head down.

   "I don't want you to hate me, Raven." he said, his voice cracking for the emotions, and he felt his eyes begin to water.

   Raven bit her bottom lip to prevent it from trembling, sniffling lightly. "I don't want to hate you."

   A few seconds later, they were hugging like their lives depended on it, both crying like babies, without holding back nor caring about the grounders all around them. They both knew what that moment meant. It was the first of the many steps they would have had to make to get back to how they were, before being a couple, before everything that had happened. When they were just best friends, a family.

   "You gotta stop fucking lying to me, though." Raven said, separating from the boy and wiping her eyes with a sleeve. "Because if you don't, I swear I'll fucking make you go boom. Do you get it?"

   He let out a wet giggle, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

   "Good. And fucking stop hitting on Clarke." she added.

   "Yeah. I kind of... figured that out."

   "Shit, Clarke! And Anya, the others... the Ark, oh my God I need- we need-"

   "What? Raven, what are you talking abou-" he tried to ask with a worried look, but she cut him off before he could finish the sentence.

   "The Dropship got attacked." she said, staring at him to gauge his reaction. "Clarke was there."

   The boy gulped rather loudly, inhaling a sharp breath. His eyed were wide and filled with fear and confusion, but after a couple of seconds he seemed to have regained his control. "What... who?"

   "It's too long to explain." Raven said, running a hand through her hair, trying to calm down. "The commander is already there, she'll sort this out." she wanted to add 'I hope' to these words, but she preferred to keep that thought to herself. "And the Ark is here, and we need to get to them and... oh, fuck! Everything is going to shit!"

    _The Dropship_

   After chasing them throughout the woods, Lexa had had to stop. The range of the acid fog was near and it was way too dangerous to ride through it, even if that was the only thing she wanted to do. If she had been alone, she would have launched in the hunt right into the fog, she didn't care. She needed to get Clarke and Anya back, it was vital that she did.

   But she wasn't alone, was she. There were warriors with her, following her. She couldn't, _wouldn't_ risk their lives as well. It was her duty to protect them, to serve them, to give her life for them. She couldn't just drag them all to the death with her.

   And so she was stuck.

   She wanted desperately to keep going, she had never felt a need so strong. She had never been this desperate for anything. The moment she gave the order to get back to the Dropship because they couldn't go on in their chase, she had felt like dying. She could already feel her heart squeeze painfully in her chest, and her breath become heavy and so difficult. She turned her back to the Mountain.

   Back at the Dropship, she had been a silent, broody presence. She gave the orders, left someone with the injured ones, and then she fell silent. She really didn't have anything worth saying, right now. She had failed. She had failed so throughly. She had underestimated the danger, she had forgotten how easily someone could get attacked. She had _failed_. Clarke, Anya, her people, everyone. She had missed out on her primar duty. To protect her people. She hadn't. She couldn't even protect her own family.

   And now, they had been stolen from her. And she had died a bit inside.

 

   She spotted Aghon a while later. He was sat in a corner, shoulders hunched and face in his hands, he looked like he was crying. Lexa envied him, for a moment. He could afford to cry openly, in front of everyone, just like that. _She_ couldn't.

   But oh, she wanted to.

   When the man saw her, he jumped on his feet and almost ran over to her, a storm of emotions swirling in his eyes.

   "Heda." he said, his voice thick and trembling. "I feel obligated to ask you- to ask you to allow me to serve here. Even if Cl-" he swallowed difficultly, blinking away the tears in his brown eyes. "Even if Clarke isn't here. I- I can't go back like this. Knowing that I failed her. I couldn't look my wife in the eye if I did." Lexa watched him try to regain some control, while another emotion invaded his kind gaze. Fury. "I ask you to let me stay here until the mountain has fallen, and they all... Clarke, Anya... everyone... will have been avenged."

   The woman just stared at him, her expression unreadable. Inside, she was a mess, and the man's words had touched her deeply and were just like salt on an open wound.

   "You can stay." she only said.

   Really, she couldn't say much more.

   She spotted Rufus and Kedra. The two horses were looking around the camp searching for their owners, but they weren't there. The thought was like a stab in Lexa's heart. She slowly walked towards them and smiled sadly at the sight. She gently petted them, caressing their long necks, trying to calm them down. It didn't work, obviously. Rufus' two heads were turning towards every noise, looking for Clarke, and Kedra was huffing, annoyed and worried. It was funny how much those two horses resembled their two women. Somehow, they reminded her of them.

   Feeling overwhelmed, Lexa took advantage of the moment of quietness in the camp, and allowed herself to be weak, if only for a moment. It was too much, she couldn't bare the sad look Rufus was giving her, she couldn't bare to look at him for too long because if she did, she would hear Clarke's voice in her head, from that time they were talking about that very horse, about his two heads, precisely.

   " _Just because he's not perfect doesn't mean he's not beautiful._ "

   And now he was staring at her and she was desperate. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. He was all she had left of her.

   Clutching the little blue stone of her necklace in her free hand, she whispered brockenly: "I'm sorry."

   Holding back her sobs so that nobody could understand what was going on, Lexa rested her forehead against the horse's one and started crying.

    _TonDC_

   The moment Lexa got back to TonDC, she was met by an agitated group of people. They were all talking at the same time, but she bit back her irritation and only raised a hand in an authoritative gesture, effectively shutting them down.

   "We'll talk in the throne tent within a few minutes. The guards will let you pass." she said in a commanding tone, before walking away.

   In the tent, she took several deep breaths to keep her emotions under control, under the worried gaze of Gustus. The man was quiet, but his presence was helpful and she sighed. He brought her a bowl full of water and she used it to clean up her face, washing away her ruined warpaint before reapplying it. She sat on her throne with a deep sigh and straightened her back, nodding at Gustus to let him know that she was ready.

   Two minutes later, the tent was filled with people, the same agitated group of before, only this time they behaving well and were talking in turns.

   "Heda, the group of scouts hasn't come back, we suspect they fell in an ambush." Indra said, Octavia right behind her, both with an anguished expression.

   The commander twirled her knife in her hand, thinking. "When were they due back?"

   "Around midday."

   Shit, it was almost time for dinner, the sun was already starting to set at the oryzon. Considering the zone they were searching, near the tunnels, the probability of an ambush was high.

   "Did you send the second group?" she asked, her expression unreadable.

   "No, Heda." Indra ignored Octavia, that was getting restless by her side.

   "Good. Tell them to return to their usual patrols for now, then. And to be more careful than ever."

   Lexa gave her order and was ready to move on to the next problem, but clearly Octavia had other ideas. Despite the warning look Indra gave her, the girl let out an angry gasp and decide to complain.

   "No, but- _Heda_ , Lincoln is out there he was in the first group and-"

   The 'thud' of the knife's blade that got angrily planted in the wooden armrest of the throne convinced her to shut up. The girl met the commander's eyes and gulped, realizing her mistake but refusing to back off.

   "I know that." Lexa said, with barely hidden fury. Her anger wasn't directed to the girl, but to herself. Not only she couldn't protect Clarke, but now that sky girl would lose her lover because of an order _she_ gave. "I can't risk the lives of other men. Those two groups counted almost twenty persons. Today we lost other sixty at the Dropship, captured by the Maunon." she paused for a second, gulping back the fear she felt thinking about Clarke, and Anya, in the hands of those people. "The scouts will return to their patrols." she said, her tone final and sharp like steel.

   Everyone in the tent remained quiet while she removed the knife from the armrest. With a glare she told Indra to go, and the woman dragged a lost-looking Octavia with her on her way out. Next, were Raven and Finn. She stiffened at the sight of the boy, but didn't say anything.

   "Commander," the girl started. "the Ark has fallen. It means that our people is here."

   "Yes." Lexa shifted on her throne, going back to play with her knife trying to keep her cool. "I noticed."

   "Right." the girl searched the right words carefully, still scared of the woman in front of her. "I think that we should go meet with them."

   The commander nodded. "You're obviously allowed to. Actually, I wish to talk to them as well. Your people understand technology, am I right?"

   The girl nodded, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Yeah. Yeah, sure, we do."

   "And do you think that your people will be favorable to help my people with the fight against the Mountain Men?" Lexa tried to keep her voice as steady as she could, but a bit of emotion managed to kate it crack a little. The two sky people didn't seem to notice though.

   "I... Well, a lot of the delinquents still have their parents, so I think that they will. Their children are in that mountain, now, so they sure have a good reason."

   Lexa clenched and unclenched her jaw, thinking about a plan. She needed to make sure the Skaikru was on her side, or the battle against the Maunon would have never seen the end. After a few moments, she nodded slightly, still playing with her knife.

   "Very well." she said. "We'll leave tomorrow morning. Since their behavior isn't predictable at the moment, you and a few of your delinquents will enter their camp first to warn them about my arrival. Then, we'll discuss a truce and maybe even an alliance. Is that clear?"

   "Hum... Yes." Raven said, trying to sound confident.

   "You can obviously choose who will accompany you to your people and if you wish there are horses that you can take with you."

   "Thank you. Heda." the girl lowered her head in a small bow, before sending her a grateful look. Raven scratched her forehead, glancing briefly at Finn, that still hadn't said a word. She nudged him with her elbow, nodding towards the commander.

   "Oh. Yes, thank you." he said, avoiding the woman's eyes, and a second later the girl was dragging him with her and out of the tent.

   Left alone in the tent with only Gustus watching her, Lexa slumped back against the throne and stared at the knife in her hands. A sad smile bent her lips and a tear escaped her eye.

   " _I know you're more than good with a knife, babe, but it doesn't mean you should play with it. It's still a weapon._ "

   Spirit, she wished that Clarke was there to reprimand her, now. At first, when she had started playing with her knife, it was a nervous tick. Then, it had become a habit. And Clarke, the healer, she just couldn't help herself. She would look at her with this irritated expression on her face, she would bite her lip a few times to try and stop herself from saying it, but she just couldn't. Lexa had started to twirl the knife more often just to tease her, to see how long she could go without blurting it out. She never lasted long.

   And now, she was playing with it, and the thought of all the times she and Clarke had argued about that habit, and the playful fights, it was all too much.

   Suddenly, the voice of one of the guards outside the tent reached the commander's ears, but he got cut off by another known one.

   "Wait, you ca-"

   "Shut up."

   A second later, Costia was barging in the tent looking extremely upset and worried. She took a few steps inside, exchanged a look with Gustus, and when the man nodded she brought a hand to her mouth.

   "Gods... so it's true?" she swiftly went to stand in front of Lexa. "It's true, Clarke and...?"

   "Yes." Lexa's voice cracked a bit, but she bit her lip to maintain some sort of control.

   "I'll go to watch the tent with the others. I'll be just out here if you need me." Gustus said, sending Lexa an understanding look.

   "Thanks, Gustus."

   The moment the man was out of the tent, Costia let out a sob and tugged her friend up, hugging her fiercely. Lexa reciprocated the hug, burying her face in the girl's shoulder, trying with all her might not to lose control.

   "Spirit, Lexa, are you ok? No that's a stupid question, of course you're not ok." the messy haired girl detached herself from her and stared at her in the eyes, her hands on the commander's shoulders. "How are you taking it?"

   Lexa didn't honestly know how to answer that question. How was she taking it? Badly. Awfully. Miserably. She felt like she had failed her most important mission and at the same time like someone had just stolen everything from her. All in one, single, day.

   "I..." she cleared her throat, trying to get a hold of her trembling voice. "I'm not... that good. I think..." a soft hand wiped a few tears from her eyes, carefully avoiding her warpaint. "I don't think I can do it without her, Costia. I just can't."

   Costia's gentle brown eyes softened even more and a few tears started rolling down her cheeks. She sniffled, tightening her hold on the older woman's shoulders. "You're allowed to feel like that, Lexa." she said, meeting her sad eyes. "You have every right to feel like that. But trust me, you can. You can do it, I know you. There's nothing you can't do, and you need to focus on that and not lose hope."

   "You don't understand." it came out more like a broken whimper than a protest, but it didn't matter. Lexa distanced herself for her friend and started pacing desperately, her breathing irregular and difficult, like a weight pressed on her chest. "You don't understand." she repeated.

   "What is it I don't understand?"

   "She's in the Mountain! Costia, she's in the Mountain. Nobody has ever made it out alive. We can't go in, she can't get out! I can't do anything!" Lexa ran her hands through her hair, starting to panic, breathing in and choking out, her lungs burning. "And what if they torture her? What it they turn her into a reaper? I can't fight her, I can't, ok? I can't. I... I can't make it. I need her with me, it's just too soon... I'm not ready... I..."

   Seeing her struggle, Costia tried to calm her down. She grabbed her by the wrists, making her turn, and pushed her to sit on her throne. She softly took her face in her hands and met her panicked eyes.

   "Lexa. Lexa, you need to breathe. Ok? You need to breathe, it's important."

   The woman did as the healer said, fighting the panic like the warrior she was. It took a while, but with her friend's help, her breathing slowed down and the woman slumped tiredly against the backrest of the throne, taking several deep breaths.

   "I'm sorry."

   "Don't you dare apologize. Besides it's nothing new." Costia said, kneeled in front it the commander with her hands on her knees, tracing soothing patterns with her fingers. "After the Conclave, Luna used to panic in the most unexpected places and moments. It's ok if you feel like that."

   Lexa felt a devastating pain in her chest when she noticed the sweet smile on the girl's lips while she talked about Luna. She wished her friend never had to know what if felt like to lose the person you love the most.

 

   Ours later, in her tent, Lexa was crying. She remembered perfectly the last time she had cried herself to sleep. It had been the night after her conclave. She had just killed several of her childhood companions, some of them were so young that they were barely children. Guilt and pain had eaten her from inside that night, keeping her awake, making her wonder why she was still alive while her friends were dead.

   Tonight was just the same. She had skipped dinner, the mere thought of putting something in her stomach had made her want to throw up. Instead, she had gone straight to her tent, told her guards not to let anyone enter, and had collapsed on her bed without even taking her clothes off, without bothering to wash away her warpaint. She had taken one of Clarke's shirt, had crawled onto Clarke's side of the bed, and had curled up like a scared child, sobbing desperately while clutching the shirt in her hands, holding it tightly against her chest.

   The sharp scent of the blonde was now gently lulling her to sleep. She resisted.

   Lexa didn't want to sleep. She wanted to stay awake for a little while longer, and hold her shirt, and breathe in her scent that lingered on the pillow. She wanted to close her eyes and imagine that Clarke was still there, hugging her back like every night. But then she opened her eyes, and through the thick layer of salty tears in her eyes, she could still clearly see that she wasn't there. She wasn't there.

   After three long hours of desperately crying in her bed, muffling her whimpers and sobs in her hand, she fell asleep. A pointless sleep that did nothing for her tiredness. She knew she would have woken up tomorrow, even more tired than now.

   Her sleep was dreamless, a void of darkness and sad quietness. But it didn't matter.

   Really, what were dreams for, when the only girl she would have ever wanted to share them with, wasn't there with her?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who skipped the panick attack: Lexa had it because of her fear of what could happen to Clarke in the mountain, and she doesn't feel ready to face the impending war and life in general without her.
> 
> Leave a comment if you liked it or if you have any contructive criticism :)
> 
> Next Chapter: Lexa meets the parents, Murphy realizes he might have a shot with the grounders and a little moment with Clarke.
> 
> Till next time.


	21. Walls Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truce is made, Murphy finds a new hope, Lexa and the Griffins talk privately and then a glimpse at Clarke's situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, finally they meet. Hope you enjoy this chapter and that it is worth the wait!  
> Mistakes are all mine.
> 
> WARNING: When you read 'Mount Weather', skip that paragraph if you're botered by the way Doc Tsing andles the prisoners. Stay safe.

Recap: Lexa is struggling because of the loss of Clarke and Anya to the Mountain Men. Raven and Finn are on the way to a reconciliation, and Octavia’s trying to come to terms with Lincoln’s disappearence. Finn and Bellamy are slowly pulling their heads out of their asses. They’re about to go visit the Ark to form a truce.

   "Like hell, Raven! I'm not going there!"

   "Murphy, for Christ's sake!" Raven yelled at the boy. "We need to go meet-"

   "NO!" he shouted, pointing a finger towards her. "I don't want to have anything to do with them! Jaha dismembered my family!"

   That caught Raven by surprise, and the girl looked at the boy with a confused expression. "What...?"

   Murphy sniffled, rubbing his nose with a sleeve and trying to be subtle with his gestures. He didn't want anyone to look at him like he was damaged, or weak. He hated the pitying looks more than anything.

   "I got sick, ok? I got sick, and my father stole some medicine. He got floated for that." he swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. "My mother couldn't cope, she... she started drinking. Blaming me. One day I found her dead with her face in her vom."

   Raven stared at him with understanding eyes. Her own mother was quite the same, always blaming her for anything and drinking away her problems. "Murphy, I-"

   "Jaha did this." he spat out, his eyes shining with rage and hurt. "He did it. And he's probably there, and all those people who think I'm just a criminal, son of another criminal. I do not want to see them. I'm not going back in there."

   The girl watched him walk away with a sad look in her eyes. She started wondering how much damage had done the Council, with it's harsh decisions. Charlotte had said more or less the same thing, earlier. She couldn't bare to see Jaha, because he had killed her parents. Murphy's family got torn apart because of one of those cruel laws. They were necessary, true, but what was the price?

   With a sigh, she returned to Finn and Bellamy, that were quietly talking while sitting on a bench. Bellamy had gotten to the village the evening prior. The grounders had brought everyone still at the Dropship to TonDC, for security reasons, and the healers had been overwhelmed by work. The boy's leg was still weak, but Nyko had said that he could ride a horse if he did it carefully, and so he had volunteered to go with them to the Ark.

   "So, it's just us." Raven muttered, disappointed, when she reached them.

   "No luck with Murphy?" Bellamy asked.

   "Nah. He doesn't want to be on the same hemisphere as Jaha, and Charlotte is the same." she shrugged, looking around the camp, dejected.

   "What about Octavia?" the boy asked, looking at his feet.

   "Following that general, Indra, like a lost puppy when she's not crying over Lincoln. But why are you asking me? She's your sister." Raven pointed out, staring at him curiously.

   At her words, his shoulders slumped and he sighed, running a hand through his curly black hair with a sad expression. "She's still a little mad at me because of Lincoln. You know, when I... tortured him. I guess I screwed up."

   "Yeah, well. You're right. You screwed up." Finn chimed in with a bite in his tone.

   "It's not like you're a saint."

   "Ok, enough!" Raven blurted out, already tired of the two boys' bickering. "You've both been assholes, suck it up and make up for it. Now let's go."

***

   Lexa woke up with a headache, still hugging Clarke's shirt to her chest.

   As predicted, she felt even more tired than when she had fallen asleep, and her limbs felt heavier than normal. She got up with a grunt, her body stiff, and she could feel that her eyes were swollen and refused to get used to the light of the day. The woman sighed, carefully folding Clarke's shirt, putting it back in its place. She started to get ready. She had to meet with the Skaikru today, to talk about a truce, and she had to look the part. There was no room for weakness.

   Since she was already dressed, not having taken off her clothes the night before, she went straight to washing away her warpaint with cold water, hoping it would help her wake up a bit. It didn't, it only sent chills down her spine, making her shiver. Lexa breathed deeply, biting her bottom lip, getting mentally ready to slip back into her Commander mode. One side of her mouth bent slightly at the thought. Clarke had been the first one to put a name to it, to the change that she could see in Lexa every time she passed from simply Lexa, to Heda. She had said it was funny.

   The brunette held back the tears. She knew there wasn't time for that, now. She had things to do, and she had to be Heda inside and out to do them. With a sigh, she grabbed the can with the black paint and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the ink without really seeing it. She must have been staring at it for longer that she thought, because suddenly someone was tapping her shoulder, making her jump, her right hand immediately reaching for her dagger.

   "Spirit! Calm down, I didn't mean to startle you!"

   "What...?" Lexa let go of the hilt, a small crease of confusion appearing between her green eyes. "Costia, what are you doing here?"

   The messy-haired brunette just shook her head, taking in her friend's appearance. "You look like you haven't slept in days. I brought food."

   Lexa grimaced, watching the healer setting down on a table a tray with breakfast. She was, admittedly, really hungry, having skipped dinner the night before, and she logically knew that she needed the energy to deal with the Skaikru. At the same time, though, the thought of actually eating made her nauseous.

   "I'm not really-" she started, but the girl cut her off, gently.

   "Lexa." she said in a soft voice. "You need to eat. You know that. Please?"

   The commander nodded. She didn't have the energy to fight, and she knew that her friend was right anyway, so there was no point in it. She ate everything, suffering through every bite, almost forcing herself to swallow the food, under the watchful eyes of the healer. When, finally, breakfast was finished, the woman got up and smoothed her clothes, sighing quietly.

   "Done. I have to go now. I need to prepare." Lexa said, looking for the can of ink.

   "Are you looking for this?" Costia asked, holding the can in her hands. "Do you want me to apply it for you?"

   That question made the commander stop in her track, almost looking lost. She just stood there, like a statue, for a couple of seconds, before regaining her composure and shaking her head. "No. Thank you." she said in a flat voice.

   "Lexa." Costia grabbed both her shoulders, squeezing lightly. "What is it? What's wrong?"

   The older girl clenched her jaw, trying to find the right words to express her feelings. She wasn't good at it, she didn't like to talk about her emotions. Sure, with Clarke she was willing to open up and discuss everything, but Clarke was Clarke. She was different. She was special.

   "It's nothing. I can apply it on my own." she said. She was almost surprised when her voice didn't crack.

   "Clarke used to do it, didn't she?" Costia murmured, looking at her straight in the eyes. When she nodded without saying anything, her green eyes filled with grief, the healer bit her lip and gently put the can in her hands. "It's ok, not to be ok."

   Giving her one last encouraging look, the girl left the tent, taking the empty tray with her.

   Suddenly, the silence was deafening. Lexa moved automatically, without really thinking about what she was doing, and went to sit in front of a small mirror. She dipped two fingers in the black ink and closed her eyes, applying her warpaint on her skin. The cold substance covered her face like a mask, and with every new inch of skin that got colored by the black paint, Lexa's walls would get a little higher, a little thicker. The feel of her own fingers drawing the mask suddenly felt wrong, almost painful. Especially with the memories of Clarke's gentle fingertips stroking her skin, turning the scary mask into a masterpiece.

   When she was finished, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Her reflection stared back at her from the mirror. Her eyes were shining dangerously, their light colour brightened by the black mask, but even so they were void. There were no tears in them, just a deep, dark nothing.

   With a sigh, Lexa got up and straightened her back. The commander walked out of the tent with confident steps and dull eyes.

 

    _Camp Jaha_

   "I can't really believe this." Jake muttered under his breath, twirling the pin in his hand. "Marcus, I still think you should have it."

   The man shook his head, pushing back his friend's hands when he tried to give the little object to him. "No, Jake." Kane smiled briefly, looking at him in the eyes. "Our people voted. You deserve it." his smile turned in a smirk. "Chancellor."

   "I'm just an engineer." he pointed out. "An engineer that saved us all. We wouldn't be here without you."

   Three hours later, the camp was in turmoil. Everyone was trying to help with something. Abby was setting up the medical bay, Sinclair was gathering the technological and mechanical stuff that looked usable, and Kane was getting ready to take off with a group of guards to go look for the kids. For all they knew, they were still at the Dropship and in danger. The war with the grounders wasn't something that they were willing to ignore. The group was about to leave the camp when three figures came out of the woods, calmly walking toward the camp. Kane squinted, shielding his eyes from the sun with a hand, trying to see if they were friends or foes.

   "YOU! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" the man warned the three strangers with a shout. He turned towards Byrne, and told her: "Go get the Chancellor, someone is walking towards the camp."

   ///

   "Wow." Finn breathed out, staring in front of him. "They made it."

   The other two looked at the huge metallic station, a small part of what once was the Ark. It was clearly in bad shape, and they could see smoke leaving several parts of the camp, but there were people there. Alive. At least one station had made it to the ground.

   "YOU! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"

   "What the fuck?!" Raven exclaimed, planting her hands on her hips. "Did they just yell at us to stay away?"

   Bellamy limped to her side, narrowing his eyes to try and get a better look at the camp. "Maybe they didn't recognize us."

   Raven shot a glance at the tree-line, where the commander and a group of grounders were waiting on their horses. The plan was for the three of them to get in the camp, make sure that the sky people were willing to discuss a truce, and then signal the commander to get out of the woods and approach them. Simple enough. Maybe.

   The mechanic nodded at the commander, doing her best to maintain the eye-contact, to let her know that she was going to get the show on the road. When the other woman nodded back at her, the brunette turned toward the camp.

   "HEY!" Raven shouted suddenly. "DON'T SHOOT! WE WERE IN THE DROPSHIP!"

 

   The moment the three delinquents had entered Camp Jaha, they had been surrounded by desperate people, each one of them asking questions about their children that were part of the 100. They didn't know much, really, and they didn't even have the time to think of an answer. Kane dragged them inside the scraps of the station and then into a small room, away from prying eyes. And ears.

   Raven almost felt weird, walking in those metallic alleys. After weeks on the ground, stepping on twigs and falling asleep to the sweet noise of the wind among the trees, it was almost strange, and at the same time, awfully familiar. She was glad she had made it to the ground, and earth was truly beautiful, but she had missed the Ark, in a way. She knew Bellamy and Finn felt something similar, if the look in their eyes was anything to go by.

   "Raven!"

   She turned just in time to see Abby and Jake run through the door, and a second later the woman was hugging her tightly. Raven hugged her back, smiling at Jake from above the doctor's shoulder. She noticed the chancellor's pin secured at the collar of his shirt, but didn't comment on it.

   "What's happening?" the engineer asked, bringing them all back to reality. "Not that I'm not happy to see that the three of you are ok, but where are the others?"

   "What about Clarke?" Abby asked.

   Bellamy sighed, half sitting against the table to get some weight off his leg. "We have a lot of things to say to you." he started, running a hand through his hair. "There are problems, and we really need your help to solve them."

   "Of course." Kane said, crossing his arms on his chest. "You don't have to worry, we'll take care of everything. Sinclair is already working to build a fence to keep out the grounders for-"

   "No, no what?" Raven blurted out, cutting him off.

   "The grounders aren't the enemies." Finn said, stepping in the conversation. "You don't need to keep them out."

   "Wait a minute." Jake said, taking a step towards the boy. "Via radio, you guys told us that you and the grounders were at war."

   "Yeah, but that was _before_ we made a truce with them." Finn said.

   "Yeah." Bellamy added, looking guilty. "We met them at a bridge, and... things happened and we're at peace now."

   "Things happened?" Kane and Jake asked at the same time.

   "Yeah."

   "What kind of things?"

   "Bellamy, what happened to your leg?"

   "Finn, your face!"

   "How can we know if they're trustworthy?"

   "Ok, HEY!" Raven stopped them from talking all at the same time. She had something to do, a plan to follow, and a very scary commander waiting for her signal just behind the tree-line. She _had_ to stay focused. "One thing at a time, ok?"

   They started explaining everything that had happened since they had lost contact with the Ark, not long before the Exodus ship had crashed on the ground. The three adults obviously asked questions, but after a while, Raven, Finn and Bellamy made it clear to them that the grounders weren't their biggest problem.

   "The point is," Raven said calmly. "that our people have been taken by these Mountain Men we told you about, and now we need you to talk with the commander so that we can get them out. You get it?"

   "Ok, but you have to understand, we don't know them. Maybe we could make a deal with the Mountain Men, find an agreement? We don't necessarily have to start a war." Jake said, sounding deadly serious.

   "I agree with him, Raven." Abby added, resting her hand on her husband's arm and nodding. "We can't just start a war with someone, without trying first to find a peaceful way to solve things."

   Bellamy slammed his fist on the metallic table, startling them. "Listen, I know you don't think we're capable of making decisions, I'm not stupid. But as Raven already told you, the commander of the grounders wants to talk to you. If you don't believe us, fine, but at least listen to what they have to say."

   "He's right." Finn chimed in, after having been silent during almost the entire conversation, letting Raven do the talking. "The grounders know the Mountain Men. Talk to them, and maybe you'll change your mind."

   Jake got up and started pacing, clearly thinking about all the things they had said. Raven observed him run a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes and sighing deeply.

   "Alright." he said after a minute. "We'll talk to this commander."

   Bellamy and Finn nodded with satisfied expressions, exchanging a look. They weren't really friends, but they respected each other, and even if it was a small victory, it was still important. If their people managed to get a truce with the grounders, they had a chance of getting their friends back.

   Raven was already hurrying out of the camp to give the signal, but Abby and Jake stopped her before she could reach the gate. When the brunette turned looking confused, the couple just glanced at each other for a brief moment, then Jake asked, sounding uncertain:

   "Raven, is Clarke here too?" his voice cracked a bit when he said the blonde's name. "Maybe, with the grounders, or...?"

   Raven gulped almost painfully. She knew where Clarke was, obviously, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them. How could she? They were so hopeful, and they were emanating this energy, they were so convinced that in a few minutes, they were going to see her again. She couldn't just destroy their hopes. At the same time, another thing was stopping her from saying the truth. The commander.

   "Listen, it's... It's complicated." she started. "You shouldn't really ask me, ok? Any question that you have, you should ask the commander."

   "What are you talking about? Why?" Abby asked, holding onto Jake's arm and staring at her with wide eyes.

   "Just, it's not my place. Not my story to tell. Just know, Clarke and the commander, they're close." Raven sighed, scratching her cheek. She was about to go and give the signal, when she suddenly turned back again. "And be careful," she said. "the commander is... scary as fuck."

   ///

   "Indra." the commander called, turning slightly to her right. "Warn everyone. Tell them to be ready for anything, we don't know if they'll be hostile. We have to be careful."

   She heard the woman starting to spread her words among the warriors. It was a small group, so as not to appear excessively threatening, but still big enough to put up a good fight if needed. On her left side, Gustus and Aghon were quietly staring at the Skaikru camp, right in front of them, their faces worried. They didn't say anything, though, trusting that their commander knew what she was doing.

   Lexa glanced at Octavia, that was sitting on a small horse by Indra's side. She had seen the little brunette follow the general everywhere she went for a few days. Anya had told her that the woman had taken the sky girl as her second, and she hadn't found a reason to object. She knew that the girl harbored some resentment towards her because of her decision to not send more of her people after the kidnapped scouts, but it was her only choice. Right now, anyway, Octavia was restlessly shifting on the saddle, glancing back and forth between the commander, Indra, and the Skaikru camp, looking worried.

   "Octavia." Lexa heard Indra get the girl's attention and turned slightly towards them. "You're fidgeting."

   "I'm sorry, Indra." the girl answered, shifting one last time on the saddle. "It's just, my brother is in there."

   "Among his people." the general pointed out.

   "Yes, but... he's not exactly popular. What if he does something stupid?"

   They went silent for a few seconds, then the dark skinned woman took a long, deep breath. "A warrior doesn't worry for something they can't control. Your brother is in there and you are here, you can't change what's going on inside the camp. You need to be focused."

   Lexa sighed, playing with the reins of her white horse. A little more than half an hour had passed since the three delinquents had entered the camp, but she wasn't worried. It takes as long as it takes, she told herself, readjusting her position on Hera's back. She decided to use the time she had to spend waiting to calm herself down and find her own focus. The thought that, maybe, Clarke's biological parents were in the camp in front of her eyes made her anxious, fidgety, and tense. She had to keep her mind clear and her voice steady, or the plan to achieve a truce could have been lost.

   She couldn't afford any weaknesses.

   It took almost another half an hour for Raven to come out and shout the signal.

   ///

   Abby and Jake were frozen on the spot. They couldn't really believe their eyes. A group of people, all of them wearing warpaint and leather clothes and furs and carrying weapons like swords and bows, was making its way through the gate. The people all around them gasped and took a few steps back, putting some distance between themselves and the grounders. Raven was right, they were scary as fuck.

   "Raven." Jake called the girl in a whisper, gesturing her to come closer to him. "Is that the commander?" The girl nodded. "I get what you said before, he is scary. And huge." the man observed, feeling Abby's grip on his arm getting tighter and tighter.

   "When you said 'close', how close is Clarke to this man, exactly?" the doctor asked, worry lacing her voice.

   The mechanic blinked a few times before shaking her head with a grimace. "That man is not the commander." she stated. " _She_ is."

   When the couple finally understood who the girl was talking about, their worry only intensified. The woman was lean but clearly strong, the red sash and long, black coat made her look regal. She got off her horse with the grace of a cat, and when her green eyes landed on the two, the couple trembled. With slow, calculated steps, the woman walked closer to them, enough that they could make out her features covered with warpaint.

   She looked about ready to kill them.

 

    _TonDC_

   Murphy was still wandering around the village, without really knowing where he was going. He didn't care. He was too deep in thought, the idea of the older Jaha still alive while his parents were dead, because of him, was running through his mind, making his head reel like a spinning top. He proceeded through the village huffing and kicking pebbles, his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket.

   At some point he spotted Charlotte. She was talking with that other girl, the grounder. Tris, was her name. She looked almost relaxed, sitting by her friend's side, in front of some hut. After a moment, a man exited said hut, getting the two girls' attention, and left them a tray of food. Murphy looked, envious, as the man softly caressed Tris' blonde hair and gave them both a sweet smile, before going back inside.

   The boy swallowed back the tears. He so wasn't going to let those people see him cry, even though he wanted to. That girl still had her father. A father that loved her, and was there for her, and brought her food to share with her friends. Murphy didn't. He didn't have all that, even the small things like a caress on his hair, because of a stupid illness. Because of a stupid law. It wasn't fair.

   For a moment, the familiar rage pervaded him. The same anger he had felt during all those years he had blamed himself for his family's destruction. But, after a few calming breaths, he felt it subside. He was done. He was so done hating the world, hating everyone, just to make himself feel better. He was tired of it. With a last look at the two girls, still talking in front of the grounder's hut, he took a deep breath, and let it go. It felt liberating, somehow.

   With his hands still firmly in his pockets, he turned on his heels to get back to his walk.

   He didn't get the chance to actually walk, though, because something collided against him, almost sending him to the ground.

   "What the hell! Watch where you're going!" Murphy exclaimed, trying to stabilize himself on his feet.

   "I'm really sorry! My fault." the girl in front of him apologized with a chuckle, clearly finding it amusing. "There's a reason why I never thought of becoming a warrior. With my luck and my clumsiness, I would end up killing one of my companions."

   The boy found himself letting out a small laugh. He was going to answer, when he finally glanced at the girl's face, the words getting caught in his throat when he recognized her. She had bright brown eyes, lean body, and a mane of messy chestnut hair barely tamed in tight braids.

   "Oh, hey Murphy." Costia said, a gentle smile unwavering on her lips.

   "Hi." he said dryly.

   The girl rolled her eyes at his unfriendly tone. "Come on, don't be like that. I know you can be funnier than this."

   Murphy let out a noise that sounded like 'tsk', before shaking his head with a bitter smirk. "You don't know me."

   "I never said I did."

   The two stared at each other for a while, studying each other, as if to see which one of them would have surrendered to the other's stare first. What freaked Murphy out, though, was that the more he glared at her, the more the girl's smile would just widen. After almost a whole minute of their little staring contest, Costia's smile was so wide it looked painful.

   "Ok, I can't help it. What's got you smiling?" the boy asked in the end, crossing his arms on his chest, trying not to look like he had actually caved or anything.

   The brunette chuckled, still smiling at him. "I like you. You're not like the rest of your people."

   The sky boy scoffed, still defensive. "Please, do share. Why am I different?"

   "Because you're quiet." she said, shrugging, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That's already a big difference, if you ask me."

   "I didn't."

   "I know. I wanted to tell you anyway."

   They fell silent again, this time though it was more of a quiet moment between two persons, rather than a weird silence. Then Costia sighed.

   "Alright. Come with me, we need help with the injured." she said, already turning away.

   "Woah, hey." Murphy stopped her, making her turn to face him. "I'm not going to play the nice doctor just because you told me to."

   The grounder rolled her eyes again. "What were you doing before I bumped into you?"

   He blinked, momentarily taken aback by the question. "Nothing. I was just walking. But it doesn't change anything."

   "Ok, then. Answer this." Costia planted her hands on her hips and stared at him with a fiery glint in her eyes. "Tell me, sky boy. Do you want to go back to your people? I saw you with Raven, earlier. I know you have your own demons and that something in that camp is haunting you. Do you want to go back there?"

   Murphy clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to control all the emotions howling inside of his chest. "No. I don't."

   "Well, then." the brunette took a step towards him, her voice quieter than before, but still firm. "If you want to stay here, you have to make yourself useful. It's your choice."

   Murphy watched as she turned her back to him and started walking swiftly towards the medical tent. Something weird was happening inside of him. He felt... hopeful. That's the word. Because that grounder had said that he could have stayed with them, if he proved himself useful. That meant, that maybe he would have never had to see Jaha again. That he could have started a new life, right there, right now, with the grounders. Where nobody knew of his past, and nobody judged him for something he had done weeks ago. When he wasn't just a scumbag, a criminal, that everyone would be wary of. Before he knew it, his feet were moving, carrying him forward. Within seconds he had caught up with Costia and was now walking by her side, heading towards the medical tent.

   He was going to play the nice doctor.

   It wasn't until he found himself in front of the entrance of the tent that he actually saw the girl beside him hesitate. She was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, her nostrils trembling, as if she was trying to hold back the tears. When she took a deep, long breath, Murphy finally noticed how tired and fragile the girl looked.

   She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was messier than usual, and her smile wasn't quite that bright. It was painfully obvious that something was wrong with her, and the boy wondered briefly how hadn't he noticed before.

   "What's going on?" he asked, out of instinct.

   "Nothing. I'm fine. I have to be." she muttered, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Spirit, I don't know how they do it. How can they keep it all inside all the time, I just..." she sighed, rubbing her nose. "I just couldn't. You know?"

   "Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about." Murphy said, looking as lost as he felt.

   The brunette let out a wet chuckle, then she went silent for a few moments, her brows furrowed as if she was making a real effort to avoid breaking down in front of him.

   "Why do you need my help, anyway?" Murphy asked trying to distract her from whatever she was thinking about.

   It didn't work, because the girl actually gulped loudly, almost painfully, when she heard his words.

   "Because Clarke isn't here."

   In that moment, Murphy wondered what was it about Clarke that had everyone so lost now that she was gone.

 

    _The Ark_

   Lexa's eyes wandered between Raven, the couple in front of her eyes, and the three men behind them. Two of them were Bellamy and Finn, and she had to admit that they had done a good job. She would need to remember that for later. The other man was older, with dark hair and smart eyes. Standing to what Raven had told her, he had to be Kane. The commander's eyes went back to the two people in front of her.

   Her heart skipped a beat and the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat when she looked the man in the eyes. His eyes were blue, the same clear blue of Clarke's ones. This tall man was Jake. And the woman had to be...

   "Commander." the man cleared his throat and straightened his back, trying to appear composed. "I'm chancellor Jake Griffin and this is my wife, Abby."

   Lexa stared at them, silent, until Gustus took a step towards her and murmured in her year. " _Heda. You need to stay focused on your objective. You're here for the peace._ "

   The woman nodded slightly, and the big man retreated. She was glad he had reminded her of why she was there. She hadn't really forgotten, she wouldn't do something like that, but the surprise of being greeted by Clarke's biological parents instead of the man the delinquents called Jaha, had momentarily distracted her. Those few, murmured words had gotten her focus back.

   "I'm here to discuss the terms of a truce between my people, and your people." Lexa started, her voice firm and her gaze unwavering.

   The man with dark hair, Kane, whispered something to the couple. Then, the chancellor nodded and turned towards her with worried eyes. "Yes. Come this way."

***

   "Why are they taking so long?"

   "Raven, please, stop pacing."

   "I'm restless, ok?"

   Octavia put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stop going back and forth in the small hallway. The meeting was being held in the council's room, inside the station. The grounders had immediately found it weird and claustrophobic, almost like a metallic cage. For Octavia, it had always been just that.

   "Listen, Raven." she said, trying to sound confident. "If they're taking so long it's probably because they're coming to some sort of agreement. Otherwise, they would already be finished and declaring war."

   "I guess you're right." the brunette huffed, playing with a tread at the hem of her red jacket. "I just... I don't like that they're keeping us in the dark, you know?"

   "Agree on that." Bellamy chimed in, massaging his leg with a grimace. "We got them to meet, and this is their thank you."

   "Guys." Finn said in a warning voice, looking at the two grounders guards positioned in front of the door. "I'm not sure we deserve their thank you. We started everything, remember?" he shifted his gaze to look at each one of them, stopping a few seconds more on Bellamy. "Maybe it's time we start to do some shit right. Without expecting anything in return."

   "You weren't thinking that when you started hitting on the grounder." Bellamy said with a snort and an annoyed expression.

   "Bell." Octavia warned.

   Finn ignored her, glaring at the other man while tapping his foot on the ground. "Clarke. Her name is Clarke, and she's not just any grounder. She's a Griffin."

   "She's not." Bellamy snapped, growing more annoyed by the second. "And you're a fool for thinking that. If you weren't crushing on her like the idiot you are, you'd see it too. She may be born on the Ark but she's not one of us."

   "Stop using the fact that I like her as a weapon, ok? Just stop it." Finn snarled back, his fists pressed against his legs. "I know that my behavior wasn't ideal-"

   Bellamy's mocking laugh echoed through the hallway, earning a curious look by the guards, that just shrugged and ignored him. "Wasn't ideal? Really, Finn?! Wasn't ideal?!"

   "Fine!" the still bruised boy rolled his eyes and huffed, throwing him a hard look. "I behaved like an idiot. Ok? I behaved like a child that would get mad when he didn't get his way. I didn't want to see that I didn't had a chance and I didn't want to believe anyone that would tell me otherwise. Ok? I said it, are you happy now?!"

   "No." Bellamy stared back at the boy with a matching glare, his eyes on fire. "I want you to stop fucking talking like you're any better than me. Or than anyone else."

   The shaggy-haired boy scoffed, crossing his arms on his chest defensively. "That's something, said by you. Your selfishness and stupidity almost caused a war!"

   "And I realized my mistakes. But just because your actions haven't caused big fat problems, doesn't mean you did nothing wrong. So stop acting like you're a saint, you're just like the rest of us."

   Finn was left speechless for a few moments, the words making him stop for a second to really think about it. He didn't really know how to answer, but luckily for him, he didn't have to.

   "They're coming out." Octavia murmured.

***

   The room in which they were discussing the possibility of an alliance smelled like something metallic and old. Lexa found this part of the Ark just as weird as the Dropship, and she couldn't help but wonder how was it possible that people had lived in it for a hundred years. It was claustrophobic.

   Explaining to the Skaikru that the mountain men were the real enemy wasn't easy. They were convinced that they could talk to them, find an 'agreement'. The commander had to make them see that an agreement with the Maunon meant a war with the coalition, and seeing their current situations, said war would have had a rather predictable end. She didn't openly threaten them, but her words had been direct enough that the sky people were now inclined to find a truce with her. It convinced them the knowledge that the kids they had sent on the ground had been kidnapped by no other than the maunon. The chancellor and his wife were parents, so they didn't think twice about it and, the moment they had the confirmation that the kids were held captive in the mountain, they had agreed to a truce.

   It had been a long, exhausting meeting and Lexa was tired and depressed, but for as much as she just wanted to cry, she kept her voice firm and unwavering, never backing down, never sounding anything less than absolutely confident. That was who she had to be, and she played her part perfectly. The Skaikru leaders now saw her as the ruthless commander of an unstoppable army, with no feelings nor fears, nor doubts. They saw Heda in all her power and glory.

   They didn't need to know that she wanted to scream every time she met Jake's eyes. They didn't need to know that Gustus' intimidating presence was there mostly for her own good, to remind her of what she was doing and why, in those moments when she was about to snap, or crack. That Indra's angry voice raising whenever the Skaikru leaders were being stubborn, or unreasonable, was a way to give Lexa the time she needed to calm down before speaking again. There were a few hiccups here and there, but they went unnoticed.

   Usually, it were Clarke and Titus that would do it. The man had served three other commanders and was extremely good at his job, always seeing the ambassors' true intentions and predicting their moves. Clarke, instead, knew her better than anyone else and she would always know how to calm her down or when was the right time to speak up during a meeting to give her some time to compose herself. A lot of deaths had been avoided thanks to her. She balanced her.

   Now that the truce had been established, the commander dismissed the meeting. She held back a sigh, knowing it was just the first step of a long, long walk, but it was in the right direction, at least. For the first time, they had a chance to bring down the mountain.

   "Now that we've discussed the terms of the alliance, commander." Kane started, looking a little more relaxed than before the meeting. He exchanged a look with Jake, that nodded quietly. "The kids told us that a few of them are still in your village. May I ask why?"

   "They're not prisoners, if that's what you're asking." Lexa said, her voice deadly calm. "They chose to stay in TonDC to avoid the man you call Jaha."

   Jake furrowed his brows, his lips tight. "Jaha? Why would they do it?"

   "I didn't ask."

   "Well, when you get back to your village, you can tell them that they don't need to worry." the man added, looking both relieved and sad. "Jaha... didn't make it."

   Lexa only nodded, preparing herself to leave, when Kane spoke up, getting her attention.

   "Jake, we should send a group with them to the village to collect the kids. Bring them back home."

   "No." the commander said before the chancellor could answer, tension evident in her posture. "You won't send anyone to my village, especially if your intentions are to 'collect' someone."

   "With all due respect-"

   "Marcus." the chancellor cut him off with a warning look, and then glanced at the commander. "What about Octavia Blake?"

   This time it was Indra the one who talked, her deep voice carrying a warning. "Octavia is my second. I'm teaching her our ways, and she's learning how to fight."

   "She's a child!" Abby blurted out suddenly, her expression orrified at the idea of a girl that young learning to fight.

   "She's old enough." Lexa concluded in a final tone, staring at the three sky people until they nodded quietly, accepting her words. "That's all, then."

   She was about to leave, when she heard a voice calling out to her

   "Commander, a word?" Abby said, making her stop.

   Lexa turned slowly to face her, and saw her standing there with her hand in Jake's one, waiting hopefully for her answer. Noticing that the Skaikru guards had already left the room, she turned towards Gustus and Indra, and nodded at them to leave her alone with the two.

   " _But, Heda, it's not safe. Please, let me stay._ " the man pleaded, glaring harshly at the figures still standing in the same spot, waiting.

   " _They're Clarke's biological parents, Gustus. They deserve an explanation. They won't harm me._ "

   After a few seconds of hesitation, the two warriors left, leaving them alone in the weird, metallic room. Lexa swallowed the suddenly there lump in her throat, and stepped in front of the couple, staring them down in silence.

   Abby was the first one to talk. "Commander, we were told that you have information about our daughter. Her name is Clarke. Clarke Griffin." she said, with a hopeful glint in her brown eyes.

   "Raven told us to ask you... she said you're close to her." Jake added, tightening his hold on the woman's hand.

   Lexa was breathing slowly, keeping a tight control of her body's reactions. She refused to have another panic attack, especially there. She didn't think it would happen, but she was going to be prepared if need be. She couldn't afford to appear weak.

   "We are. Close." she started, and as much as she really didn't want to talk to them about her private life, she still thought they had the right to know. Clarke was... gone, now, and if she could give some comfort in the form of information, then so be it. Plus, it wasn't like nobody knew of them, they could have asked any grounder in TonDC and they would have told them the entire story. May as well be her. At least this way she'd be able to decide how much she was willing to disclose. "We grew up together, in a village nearby. We've been together for almost four years."

   "Together?" Jake asked in a murmur, looking surprised. Lexa nodded quietly.

   "Is she there? In that village?" Abby asked, looking about ready to start running in whichever direction Lexa pointed her to, as long as she was running towards her daughter.

   Lexa's sorrowful eyes answered for her. She slowly shook her head, looking as emotionless outside, as lost as she felt inside. "The mountain took her. Yesterday."

   They both went silent for several seconds, processing her words. Then, Abby started crying and trembling, leaning against Jake's shoulder while the man tried to blink away the tears that had started welling up in his clear blue eyes. Lexa breathed in deeply, keeping her own need to cry under control, for now, and was about to leave the two of them alone when the woman's voice reached her again, cracking and desperate, but still loud enough that she could hear it.

   "Did she- did she have a happy life?"

   Lexa's heart stopped for a second, while her mind did a memory trip on its own accord.

   The first time they talked as children, that time Clarke had wanted to paint her face, the first night they sneaked out to go stargazing. Their first fight, and their first making up. Their first kiss. Their first ride together. The time they almost got eaten by the snake in the lake. That time Titus walked in on them kissing on the throne. All those times Lexa had lost herself in her blue eyes. All those times Clarke had interrupted her in the middle of a sentence with a kiss, and then had told her that she looked beautiful.

   Their first 'I love you's'.

   Despite all the wars, and threats, and the assassination's attempts, Clarke's smile had always been bright, and wonderful. Just like her eyes.

   Lexa gulped painfully, mustering up the strength she needed to make sure her voice didn't tremble.

   "Yes. She had a happy life. She was an amazing person and she'll be greatly missed. By many." she bit her lip, blinking quickly to hold back the tears. "She was happy."

 

   Sitting around the metallic table, Lexa allowed the two sky people to ask her things about Clarke. She didn't want to talk about it, but the memories of all those time a very young Clarke had talked to her about her parents convinced her to let them have this. This tiny bit of knowledge regarding their daughter's life.

   "How did she get to the village? After she... landed." Jake asked, gently rubbing his wife's back in a comforting manner.

   Lexa sat stiffly, her hands folded together to keep herself from fidgeting. "We found her right away. Anya and I." She furrowed her eyebrows for the effort to keep her voice firm. "She wasn't... in good shape, but our healers helped her and Anya adopted her a few days later."

   Abby sniffled, rubbing her swollen eyes. "A-adopted?"

   Lexa nodded, sensing the woman's discomfort. She couldn't imagine what it must feel like when your only child gets adopted, and there's nothing you can do about it.

   Jake nodded, deep in thought. "This... Anya. Can we meet her?"

   The green eyed girl stiffened even more at the reminder that the woman who had basically raised her was gone. "She got taken by the Maunon, too. But I can tell you, she was my most trusted general and an excellent mother."

   Her words seemed to bring the two a bit of relief. Knowing that Clarke had had a positive relationship with her adoptive mother seemed to help.

   "Commander..." the man swallowed loudly, visibly worried. She knew they were scared of her, and she had no intention of changing that fact anytime soon. Jake continued. "You said... Clarke and you were... together?"

   "Yes."

   "For almost four years?"

   "That's what I said." she answered through gritted teeth.

   Abby sighed deeply. "That means she was what... fourteen? When you got together?"

   "Exactly." spirit, things were getting awkward. And Lexa really wasn't in the mood for an awkward conversation.

   "And she... I mean, was she happy... with, everything, I mean..."

   It was clear what the woman was trying to ask. Was Clarke happy with her, with the life she had to live being the commander's partner? Honestly, she couldn't blame her for asking. If Clarke had chosen another one to share her life with, she would have asked the same thing. She would have wanted to know if she was sure that that was the right choice for herself. If she was truly happy with how things were.

   Lexa nodded, a deadly serious expression on her face. "I can assure you, she was."

   Both of them nodded gratefully.

   "Commander..." Abby started then, her voice wavering. "Thank you for...telling us. About her."

   Lexa nodded and got up slowly. Her voice didn't tremble when she excused herself and turned her back at them. There were many things left unsaid, but she couldn't bare to talk about that now. Not anymore.

   Both her and the two sky people needed time to mourn, but Lexa wasn't sure if all the time in the world could ever be enough to get over Clarke's loss.

 

_Mount Weather_

   She felt dizzy. It was like her head was about to explode, her eyes pulsed painfully and when she tried to open them, a sharp stab of pain spread through her head. She brought her left hand to the nape of her neck, hissing when even that small movement sent a pang of hurt through her body. Slowly, she remembered what had happened a few hours before.

   She could still feel the burning sensation on her skin when the mountain men 'washed' her. She almost gagged at the thought of that metallic gun slipping deep in her mouth, shooting a pill down her throat. The iron grip of the collar around her neck.

   Clarke finally managed to open her eyes. An horrified gasp left her lips and her fingers trembled with fear. Cages. It was a big room filled with cages, all the same size, metallic and cold. Her people was screaming from those cages. She could hear them. They were people from every clan, not just warriors but traders, hunters, shepherds. They were screaming and pleading and moaning out their pain but no one was there to hear them. Only other prisoners, held in cages like rabid animals, like their lives had no worth.

   Clarke was shocked. Looking around herself, she could only see metal and tired bodies.

   She was sore, everywhere, both because of the rough treatment she had received by the maunon, and because of the curled up position she was forced to sit in by the cage, too small for her. Giving in to panic and rage, she started hitting the little door of her cage, pushing as hard as she could to try and break it, or break the lock. It was useless, though. She knew it.

   " _Fleimkepa?_ "

   Panting, the girl turned her head to her right. In the cage beside hers, was held Kara. Nylah's mother. She and the girl were good friends, and Clarke had met her mother a few times when she had visited her at the trading post.

   " _Kara?_ " the blonde whispered, shifting in the cage to try and get a bit closer to the woman. She nodded, starting to cry, having difficulties to breath. Clarke tried to calm her down a little by smiling, but she was sure it looked just as lost and scared. " _It's just Clarke, ok? Just Clarke._ "

   The older woman nodded, wiping her cheeks with a trembling hand. " _Clarke, is my... Is Nylah...?_ "

   She shook her head vehemently, reassuring the woman that hee daughter was safe, far away from that horror. " _Last time I saw her, she was safe at the trading post with her father. They both miss you, they..._ "

   Clarke couldn't really finish that sentence, she could feel her own eyes starting to water at the thought of her loved ones. Kara nodded in front of her, relieved, and sat back tiredly in her cage. The younger girl imitated her, resting her head on the wall and hiding her face with her hands. She spent several time in that position, trying to calm herself down, until a sleepy voice snapped her out of it.

   " _Clarke?_ "

   She jumped, gripping the grid of her cage with her trembling fingers and desperately trying to spot the owner of that voice in one of the cages. " _Mom?_ "

   " _Right here! Clarke!_ "

   She saw her, in one of the cages in the row in front of hers, a little higher than her own, but still visible. Anya was pushing the door of her cage like a possessed woman, trying to break through, to discard it, anything to reach her daughter, but she couldn't. The stuff the mountain men had given them to make them sleep had yet to wear off their bodies, resulting in them feeling weak, slow. Tired.

   " _Mom!_ " Clarke cried, trying to see her better. " _Mom I'm here!_ "

   The woman's eyes focused in her and she let out a long sigh of relief. " _Clarke! Thank the spirit, are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?_ "

   " _No._ " the girl shook her head, doing her best to keep her tears away while the grip of her pale hands on the grid tightened so much it became painful. " _I'm fine. You?_ "

   Anya fidgeted inside of her cage for a few seconds, as if checking herself for injuries. " _I'm ok._ " she answered with a tremble in her voice. " _I thought you-_ "

   She was cut off by the door being open and three people entering the room. Two were guards, one was a woman with dark skin and a white coat. The woman started walking quietly between the raws of cages, analyzing the suddenly quiet prisoners with attentive eyes. When the woman got too close to Clarke's cage, Anya's eyes widened in fear and she gave a sudden and strong push at the little door of her own cage, distracting the woman, that changed direction and walked straight towards her.

   " _No._ " Clarke whispered to herself, watching as the woman stared at her mother in deep concentration.

   "This one." she said, after a moment of consideration.

   "Yes, doctor Tsing." one of the guards said, and then proceeded to unlock the cage's door.

   " _NO!_ " Clarke shouted, hitting the grid with her palms.

   When the guards got momentarily distracted by the noise, Anya kicked her door open, making it hit one of the guards, that stumbled back holding his nose. In that time it took them to realize what was happening, the general had jumped out of the cage and punched the other guard in the face. She hadn't considered the fact that she was still drugged, and her limbs were weak. Her knees gave out at the wrong moment, allowing the guards to grab her by the arms.

   " _NO! MOM NO! LET HER GO, YOU BASTARDS!_ " Clarke shouted at the top of her lungs, but they didn't listen to her.

   Instead, the man with the bleeding nose pulled out a baton and pressed it against the woman abdomen. She let out a scream of pain and tensed up, so much it looked as if she was about to snap, and then relaxed suddenly, her head hanging and her limbs almost useless.

   " _MOM!_ "

   While the two man dragged her to one side of the room, where was placed a weird looking machine, Anya fought back the tiredness to look at her daughter. Quietly, she shook her head. A silent message that she didn't want her to drive to much attention on herself. That she wanted her to stay safe.

   " _Mom..._ " Clarke whispered brockenly with a nod, wave after wave of tears staining her cheeks.

   She watched as they injected something in Anya's neck, something that made her fall asleep in a matter of seconds. She watched, a hand covering her mouth to hide the whimpers that escaped her lips, as they strapped those sort of cuffs to her mother's ankles, lifting her in the hair until she was just hanging there. They put things on her, something started to make a weird and ritmic 'beep-beep'.

   And then they left. Leaving her there, hanging upside-down like a fruit on a tree. With no decency, no respect. Nothing. They just turned their backs and left a woman hanging, and hundreds of people trapped in cages.

   Clarke was going to kill them. All of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF YOU SKIPPED: Clarke wakes up in a cage in the mountain, after a few minutes Doc Tsing comes with two guards and they take Anya and put her on the machine to go through the treament. Clarke finds herself helpess and decides that shell'kill them all.
> 
> Was it good? Bad? Share your thought! :)
> 
> Questions: How many of you want Maya to survive?  
> How many of you want Pike to exist in this fic? Let me know :)
> 
> Next: The great escape from the Mountain.


	22. Like A Mouse Out Of The Cat's House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few snapshots of what happened while they were inside the mountain, Wells is a badass, and they escape!
> 
> and... cliffhanger. Sorry guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, it's here!
> 
> WARNING: Seeing how the mountain men treated the grounders, some of you may want to skip the parts in the Harvest Chamber. There isn't anything too graphic tho, mostly dialogs. Angst at the end.
> 
> Enjoy!

   Recap: Clarke and Anya found themselves in the mountain, prisoners in cages. The last thing they remembered was the maunon attacking the Dropship, taking all of them – grounders and delinquents alike – away. Clarke had to witness, powerless, to them hanging Anya upside down to take her blood, prompting her to swear that she’ll kill them all.

 

   Wells was panicking. He couldn't believe his ears. If what he had just heard was true, then everyone among his people were in terrible danger.

   He had to do something, but first, he had to save Clarke.

 

    _Fifteen hours earlier_

   Wells woke up slowly, blinking a few times to adjust his eyes to the bright, artificial light that surrounded him. Confused, he sat up, stretching with a groan when he felt the tightness in his limbs.

   "What the...?" he breathed out in mild panic.

   He was in a white, spotless room, on a white bed that sure as hell wasn't his own, in white thank top and shorts. There was a painting hung on a wall, a creepy castle on a hill, and a camera on the roof was watching his every movement. It had to be a nightmare. He presses hard his hands on his eyes, trying with everything he had to remember what had happened. How did he end up there, in a very clean room on earth? It couldn't be a grounder village. He was sure of that.

   Carefully getting up, he took a moment to regain his balance and then stepped closer to the door. Out of instinct, he tried to open it, but it was closed.

   "Obviously." he huffed.

   The door had a round glass, similar to a porthole, and Wells hesitated for less than a second, before pressing his nose into it, trying to see something. Anything, he just needed a small hint about what this place was. There was an alley, an identical room right in front of his one, and then, hung on the wall, a signboard.

   MOUNT WEATHER - QUARANTINE WARD

   Oh hell no.

   Shit.

   Mount Weather. Of course! They had attacked the Dropship with the grenades, making them fall unconscious, now he remembered. A cold shiver ran down his spine.

   If Wells was there, then surely the others were too. That meant that his people, all his friends, Clarke, Anya, Monty everyone! They were there too, held captive, maybe they were being tortured in this very moment! He was panicking. He couldn't allow it to happen. He wouldn't. His breathing was getting faster and his head felt void.

   No, no. Ok. He thought. He was of no use to anyone if he gave up. If he surrendered to panic. It took him several minutes to calm down and reign his breath in, but he did it, with his head between his knees. When, finally, he felt like he was in control of himself again, he got up.

   Wells threw a glance out of the porthole on the door and jumped in surprise. The door of the room in front of his own was now wide open and a person in a weird blue anti-radiation suit was apparently cleaning said room. He jumped in action.

   Wells knew that he was being observed by the camera placed above the door, so first thing first, he had to take care of it. He caught the metallic pole for IV that was right beside his bed, and smashed it against the camera, that broke with an electric sound. Wells' heart was hammering against his ribcage, adrenaline running through his veins. He knew he couldn't waste time. Without waiting even for a second, he used the pole to break the glass of the porthole. He threw the metallic object on the floor and sneaked an arm through the newly created passage, palming the surface to find the lock. He held back a pained yelp when a piece of glass caught his skin, cutting through his arm. Blood stained his white top and a throbbing pain invaded his arm. The boy gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to whimper, and picked up a fragment of glass on his way towards the figure in the other room.

   With the throb in his arm getting worse the faster his heart pounded in his chest, Wells got behind the stranger. Moving faster than he ever had, he gripped their headpiece and tugged at the fabric, uncovering a mane of dark hair, then he turned the mountain person around and froze. It was a girl, not older than him, with pale skin and scared eyes. She let out a surprised gasp.

   "What are you doing?!" she shrieked. "You're contaminating the-"

   "Shut up!" Wells said, pressing the glass against the girl's throat, making her squirm in fear. "Were do you keep my friends?"

   "What-"

   "Don't fuck with me!" he snarled in her face, his hands trembling with rage. "Were are they? What did you do to them?"

   The girl struggled to escape his grasp but he was too strong, and she whimpered. "I don't- I-"

   "You know what?" Wells growled quietly, tightening his grip on the girl's suit. "Don't tell me. Bring me to them."

   The boy pushed her towards the door and allowed her to lead the way through the mountain. It was a maze, and Wells failed miserably when he tried to keep track of the turns and doors they passed. Finally, they reached a lift, and he pushed the girl inside before stepping in, carefully eyeing the hallways to spot enemies.

   "What level?" he asked the girl. "What level!"

   She jumped, scared, and with a trembling hand pressed the button '5'. The lift started moving. Wells breathed through the nose, trying to calm down, the glass in his hand still pressed against the girl's skin.

   "What's your name?" he asked, his voice low.

   "Maya." He nodded, without saying anything. Maya gulped. "We didn't do anything to your friends. They're fine-"

   "Shut up!" he glared at her with wide eyes and gritted teeth, pressing the piece of glass harder against her neck. "Don't you dare and try to convince me that they're fine! I know what you do to people!"

   "You don't... what...?"

   Wells didn't give her the time to say anything else, he pushed her harder against the wall of the lift, barely containing his emotions. "The grounders told me. I _know_ what kind of people you are. So now, _shut up!_ "

   The lift's door opened and he dragged her out of it, without wasting time. Something was different on this level, though, there was a distant noise, echoing through the hallways. The nearer he got, the louder it became until he turned an angle and froze.

   His grip on Maya weakened and the piece of glass in his hand slipped out if his grasp, shattering on the ground.

   There were families. Eating, sat at long tables, laughing, chatting quietly. They didn't look like the monsters he had been told to fear. They looked... normal. Peaceful.

   Then a woman noticed him, still holding Maya and bleeding from the arm, and jumped up.

   "CONTAINMENT BREACH!" she yelled.

   All eyes turned to Wells, and the peace shattered like the glass on the floor.

 

    _Harvest Chamber_

   Clarke stared at her mother from her cage, sniffling quietly, her cheeks tickling because of the dried tears staining the soft skin. Anya was still there, with cuffs on her ankles, seemingly asleep. There was a scout, Kay, locked in one of the cages above hers, that was muttering things under her breath. She had tried to keep Clarke occupied during the last few hours, she felt like she owned it to Anya. The blonde remembered her, she used to report to her mother about disorders near the Trikru borders during the last war. They had never talked much, though she was glad for the distraction. Seeing her own mother being left there like a piece of meat, it made her want to throw up. Or to kill someone. Or both.

   With a sigh, she let her head fall against the cage's wall and closed her eyes, tired after all the time spent trying to break free to go help Anya. She didn't know how much time had passed, but then suddenly, she heard the door opening with a loud noise, and jumped. Looking towards the noise through the grid of her cage, Clarke gritted her teeth in fury, watching as the same woman with dark hair and white coat approached her mother, examining her like she was an animal.

   "Put this one back in the cage. I need another one."

   Those words. How dared she. Clarke was clenching her fists so hard her nuckles were white, and the burning anger inside of her was threatening to come out. Viciously. She watched as the two man carelessly unstrapped the cuffs from Anya's ankles, and in a burst of anger, she punched the grid loudly.

   The scout in the cage above jumped in surprise, and then whispered to her: " _Fleimkepa! No!_ "

   Clarke was trembling with rage, and ignored her. She was so ready to get out of the damn metallic box and kill the bitch that was torturing her mother, and her people. Nevermind if she died doing it, she just wasn't going to let her do it any longer. She punched the grid again, harder. One of the guards briefly glanced at her, before going back to his work and laying Anya on the ground. She was still unconscious.

   " _Come on._ " she punched the grid yet another time, the metal leaving angry red marks on her knuckles. " _Come on, bitch, come closer._ "

   " _No! Fleimkepa!_ "

   " _What!?_ "

   The scout, Kay, shook her head, watching her through her cage's floor. " _You can't let them take you. Please. Stay silent._ " she begged her.

   Clarke scoffed, her blue eyes flashing in anger. " _I won't just stay here while they do_ that _to my people! She's my mother, I can't!_ "

   " _Please!_ " Kara, Nylah's mother, said in a rushed whisper. " _You're too important, your people needs you!_ "

   " _I am of no use inside this cage!_ " the blonde snapped, punching the damn grid again and again, attracting even more attention to herself. " _I'm going to kill that bitch._ "

   " _No. No, you..._ "

   The scout watched as the two men gracelessly pushed Anya back in her cage and the woman in the white coat approached the other prisoners, trying to spot one strong enough to hang. When the doctor got too near to their cages, and she saw the dark-skinned woman look too intensely at Clarke, Kay punched the grid of her own box, stealing her attention.

   " _Hey! Bitch, I'm here!_ " she yelled.

   Clarke's eyes widened and she gasped in horror. " _No! What are you doing!_ "

   " _Clarke!_ " Kara whispered to her, sneaking a hand in her cage and squeezing her shoulder. " _Let her do this._ "

   The woman pointed at Kay's cage and the two guards started to unlock her door, working fast. The moment the cage was opened, the girl tried to kick the first man, but she was too tired and sitting in a small space like that for several hours had impaired her ability to move. The guard didn't fight back, he just got out of nowhere an electric baton and used it on her, almost knocking her out.

   " _No! No, stop you bastards!_ " Clarke shouted pointlessly, her words ignored.

   She could only watch as they put the scout in the same position as her mother, hanging upside down her long dark hair just a few inches from the floor.

   She was so tired of people sacrificing themselves for her.

 

    _Ten hours earlier_

   Turned out, his friends were actually safe.

   Wells was a little creeped out by Dante, the old president that looked like a vampire from one of those old movies, but he had seemed sincere while telling the boy about the dam and his people's inability to fight off radiations. It made sense, ok, but he still wasn't sure. The old man had said that he had brought them inside the mountain to save them from the 'outsiders', but when Wells had tried to tell him that the grounders weren't a threat, the president had looked shocked, almost. Plus, he had claimed not to know anything about what the grounders had said about his people, since they had never kidnapped anyone, and that for now no Ark survivors had been spotted. Which was... arguable, in Wells' eyes.

   His friends were just as confused as he was, but since they didn't know what Clarke and Lexa had told him about the mountain men, most of them were just feeling a bit out of place in the bunker, but not in danger. Some of them looked ready to go back outside, and some were just glad to have a roof above their heads and hot water to shower. And a warm meal three times a day.

   Wells wasn't sure if it was the case to tell them, since he wasn't completely certain, that the mountain men could be worse than what they looked. They all seemed nice enough, but there was something... something weird. Like an unsaid truth, that everyone in the bunker knew about, but no one discussed.

   And he was going to find out what it was.

 

   Wells remembered seeing a man, his body burnt by radiations, walk in the medical bay with the help of a few nurses.

   The boy was there to get his arm fixed up, when Doctor Tsing had apologized, turned her attention to the man, putting him on bed rest immediately, and then had left the room. He could have swore on his mother's grave - if she had had one - that nobody physically treated the man. He got put on dialysis, and after a while his body was healing. He asked questions about that, but obviously, nobody answered him.

   So, after trying to get the information out of Maya, earning several glares from Jasper that thought he was just being a conspiracy-paranoid jerk, he went to sleep and, once he was settled on the bed, Wells decided that the next day he would ask Dante in person.

   If it was the last thing he did in his life, he was going to find out the truth.

 

    _Harvest Chamber_

   Clarke was so going to kill her.

   When the woman returned to choose the next victim, she had first examined Kay's body, weak and tired, hanging from the cuffs. She had had the face to say: "Get this one back in the cage, she's useless like this."

    _Useless_. Like an old, broken object. Like her life didn't matter, she had sacrificed herself for her! She had been brave and selfless, and this woman just talked about her like... like _that_. Once again, Clarke was shaking with barely contained fury.

   Anya was now awake, visibly tired and weakened, but alive. That thought was giving Clarke strength, for she couldn't even bare to think about the woman's dead body. It sent chills down her spine.

   After ten minutes, Clarke knew her moment had come. The woman chose her. She could hear Anya trying to shout but she went ignored.

   They put cuffs around her ankles.

   She managed to punch one of the men, but when she launched at the woman, the other guard grabbed her, and injected something in her neck. She went limp.

   They hung her upside down like they had done with the others. Everything became dark.

 

   When she woke up, she was already back in the cage. Everything hurt, she felt like she hadn't eaten in days, her head was light and her limbs heavy.

   " _Clarke!?_ "

   " _Mom..._ " she muttered.

   Kay's voice raised a bit from above her. " _She's awake, Anya._ "

   " _Clarke! Spirit, Clarke!_ " the blonde recognized her mother's voice, and opened her eyes, squinting when the light hit her sight. " _I thought... I..._ "

   She did her best to smile to the woman, trying to ease her worries a bit, even if she felt like shit. " _I'm fine. I promise._ "

   Throwing a glance at the hanging bodies, she recognised Kara. She looked so pale, thin... It was clear that she wasn't going to survive many other treatments. Clarke sighed, holding back the tears.

   " _Clarke, they said some weird things earlier._ " Anya said, wiping away her own tears staining her cheeks. " _Something went... different, with you, I don't know what they're going to do._ "

   " _I heard the woman say it._ " Kay added, her voice hoarse and tired. " _They know you were born in the sky._ "

 

    _Three hours earlier_

   Wells was spying on them. Yes, he was, and he wasn't regretting one second of it.

   When that morning he had gone off to talk to Dante, he wasn't in his office. So, obviously, he went out looking for him, only to find him in a deserted hallway talking with his son Cage and no other than doctor Tsing.

   So, of course he hid behind a pillar, what else was he supposed to do?

   "It's the only plausible conclusion, Mr president." the woman was saying. "I ran the tests twice, her blood has healed the patient in half the time respect to the standard treatment."

   "And that is proof enough for you to start using the kids?" Dante asked, an edge in his voice. "You can't be sure."

   "But I am." the doctor took a step towards the older man, waving her hands. "Her blood presents the mutations. She's been directly exposed to solar radiation, that means she's born on the Ark."

   "I think she's right, dad." Cage added. "I say, let's use this girl, and if doctor Tsing is right, we'll go from there."

   "I do not approve of this." the man stated, his back straight. "You're basing a plan of action on suppositions and theories, there are no certainties. I won't drain those kids' blood, because you _think_ that one outsider girl was born on the Ark. For all we know, she's an exception. This could just be a lucky treatment."

   "But, dad-"

   "Enough, Cage. My answer is no."

   Wells just stood there, dumbfounded. Clarke was inside the mountain, and for what he had understood of that weird, horrific dialogue, she was being blood-drained. If she was there, the others probably were too. Anya... the scouts. And soon, the same thing would happen to his friends as well.

   The grounders were right about the mountain men. They were lying to them.

   It's wasn't safe.

 

    _Present time_

   Wells was conflicted. Extremely, conflicted. And panicking.

   He knew he had to tell his friends, to warn them, but judging form Jasper's glares, they all would have just thought he was going crazy. But he couldn't ignore what he knew, so his only option was to find Clarke, and have her help him convince the others to leave the damn mountain.

   The problem was, he had no idea how to find her.

   Wells knew that he had to think of a plan, and the only thing he knew for sure was that the machines for the dialysis were in the medical bay. If, somehow, the doctor had been able to use the grounders for some form of treatment, there had to be a connection. A way for the blood to... do whatever it did, with the grounders, and then come back. It couldn't be too far, or it would have been impractical. So, the infirmary would have been his starting point. Now he only needed a good excuse to be in there, alone.

   He looked at his injured arm, and sighed.

   It was going to hurt so much.

 

   "Done. Try to be more careful from now on." doctor Tsing said with a warm smile.

   Wells smiled back, trying to be convincing, while letting his head fall on the pillow to show off some tiredness. "Thank you." he murmured, closing his eyes and doing his best to look asleep.

   After a few minutes he heard the woman's heels tap their way out of the room, and he sat up. Reopening his wound had been a dangerous thing to do, he knew that, and it had been probably one of the hardest things he had ever had to do to himself. Never again.

   The good thing was, that he was finally alone now. After looking around the room to make sure than nobody was watching him, the boy threw the sheets off his body and got up. Carefully, he approached the bed in which Langston, the man that needed the anti-radiation treatment, was laying. Wells thought briefly about waking him up to question him, but quickly got rid of the idea. Too dangerous. Instead, he focused on the dialysis machine. At a first look it seemed normal, but then Wells got nearer, and that's when he noticed them. There were tubes, several of them, that from the device followed the wall and then went up, through a conduct through the roof. Thinking back about the map that he had been given the day before, he was pretty sure that there wasn't a room above the infirmary. Just cement and rocks.

   Something told him, this was the right direction.

   Looking around to find a way to follow the tubes, Wells spotted a grid that covered up an air conduct, and nodded to himself. He climbed on a chair and then, as quietly as he could, removed the grid to sneak in the conduct. It was tight and claustrophobic, but he gritted his teeth and crawled ahead, breathing through his nose to keep calm. After twenty minutes it seemed to him that he had already spent hours in that conduct, but right when he was this near to give into frustration, there he saw it.

   Another grid. He got nearer to it and peaked through the small spaces between the metal. What he saw, made him gasp in shock and horror, bringing a hand to his mouth to contain the emotions.

   There was a man, hanging from cuffs, right where the tubes connected with another dialysis machine, and then there were cages, hundreds of them. Small, too small for an adult person, and he was absolutely sure that they were filled with the missing grounders. The mountain men... were blood-draining them.

   Without further hesitation, Wells removed the grid and stepped in the room. It was like descending in hell. He could hear pained moans, laments everywhere, some of the prisoners were trying to reach out of the cages, sneaking their arms through the grids, grasping air. A thought suddenly hit him. How was he going to find Clarke among all those cages? He blinked, ran a hand through his hair, and then nodded to himself again. With new determination he started looking for her. He would have found her, even if he had to search every cage.

   Having noticed the locks, Wells decided to get something to break it for when he found her. He grabbed a metallic handle, that looked old enough to not oppose too much resistance, and tugged until it separated from its support on the wall. Armed with the metallic object, the boy started looking inside every box, trying to recognize his friend, or another of the grounders that had been at the Dropship during the attack.

   He found her three minutes later, when he spotted Anya. He rushed over to her and right in front of her, in one of the bottom cages, there was Clarke.

   "Clarke!" he crouched in front of the girl, that looked at him with tired blue eyes. "God, Clarke!"

   "Wells?" she asked quietly, looking confused. "What... what are you doing here?"

   "I'm going to get you out of here." he said, and then he started working on the lock. It broke with a clung, and Wells opened the cage's door. "Come on."

   Clarke started to crawl out of the box, slowly, and shaking her head. "I won't leave them here. I can't-"

   Anya's voice raised from behind the boy's shoulder. The woman looked exhausted, but determined. "You have to. Please, Clarke, just get out of this place. I'm begging you."

   "No." the blonde whispered.

   "Clarke, please." another girl, with dark, long hair, pleaded. "Just leave, you can't help anyone if you're here."

   "They're right." Wells tried to drag her with him. "Please we have to-"

   A loud noise cut him off. They all startled and both Wells and Clarke froze on the spot. Someone was walking in through the door. He recognized the doctor's heels.

   "Shit." he grabbed Clarke by the arm, the girl looking like she was one step away from running towards the woman and kill her with her bare hands. "Clarke we have to get back in there.

   The boy practically dragged the blonde inside the cage and closed the door. When the woman got near enough, he noticed the two guards accompanying her. Wells' breathing was getting heavier, the intense fear rushing through him causing his heart to beat wildly in his chest, but with all the moaning and lamenting of the hundreds of prisoners, he was sure that nobody could hear him.

   "I need the one from earlier. She'll do the last treatment now." doctor Tsing said, starting to walk towards them.

   The woman in the cage next to the one they were in started trembling. Nylah's mother. "They're here for me." Kara whispered.

   "No. I'll get you out of here." Clarke said, her eyes cold like ice.

   Wells was already shaking his head when Kay grabbed his arm through the grid of the cage. He looked at her from below. "Get her out of here." she said, glancing at the woman that was slowly approaching her. "She's the guardian of the commander's spirit. She can't die in here. Swear it."

   The boy nodded, and she let him go. Clarke was shaking her head, but Wells saw in her eyes a look of acceptance. The blondish woman in the other cage was breathing heavily now. Clarke slipped a hand through the grid and took Kara's one in her own, squeezing it briefly.

   " _Ste yuj._ "

   The woman nodded quickly, tears already staining her cheeks as her bottom lip trembled. " _Don't let them take Nylah. Don't let it happen, please._ "

   Clarke shook her head vigorously, pressing a hand to her mouth to mask her whimpers. She whispered: " _I won't._ "

   Only a few seconds later, the doctor stepped in front of the cage, examining the woman, that just stared back in defiance. Then suddenly, she spit in her face. The doctor jumped back and signed at the guards to take her. Wells couldn't bare to look while they carelessly dragged her out of the box and injected her with something that made her fall unconscious in a matter of seconds. They just cuffed her by the ankles and lifted her up to hang beside the man. Then, with a final look to the room, they left.

   The moment the door closed on their backs, Clarke was already crawling out of the cage and towards her mother. Wells followed her with the handle.

   "I'm not leaving you." Clarke said when Anya tried to protest.

   "Move." Wells said, then broke the lock with a clung and opened the small door, before throwing away the metallic object to help the woman get out of the cage.

   Immediately, she went to hug her daughter, even if they could barely stand on their own. They were telling things to each other that Wells couldn't understand, but he wasn't going to interrupt them. After a few more seconds, the two women separated and looked at the other cages.

   "We're getting you out of here."

   Kay was looking at them shaking her head from inside her cage. "Just go!"

   Wells shook his head, grabbing the handle again and walking towards the scout's cage. When he tried to force the lock, though, the handle broke.

   "Fuck!" Wells cursed, looking at the broken object in his hands. He lifted his eyes to look at the girl. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

   "It's ok, just leave!" the brunette said, more forcefully.

   "We'll come back for you." Clarke assured her, then said to Wells and her mother. "Let's go. We can't help them if we get caught again."

   The other two nodded. They were going to leave the damn mountain.

***

   Clarke was feeling like shit, true, but at least she was out of there. Thank the gods Wells had found them and they had reached the tunnels. They had found clothing and even if they had almost been caught by the reapers they had escaped. The tunnels were a maze, though, and there was no way of knowing if they were getting closer to the exit, or if they were walking in circles instead.

   "Fucking tunnels. Fucking tunnels, every turn looks the same as the others." Anya panted, keeping herself up with a hand on the rocky wall. "We're running around like idiots, they'll catch us if we don't find an exit soon."

   Clarke saw Wells rubbing his face with both his hands, pacing wildly while the two grounders regained their breath. Those 'treatments' had taken a toll on them, and they were having difficulties keeping up the fast pace, now.

   Shaking her head, Clarke asked in a sad voice: "What are they doing to our people?"

   Wells stopped his pacing to look alternatively at both the general and the healer, and sighed deeply. "I don't know for sure... I think your blood heals them, somehow."

   Anya squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them and stared at the boy. "How did you find us?"

   Wells shook his head to himself, and Clarke was sure she saw worry in his dark brown eyes. "I heard them talking." he pointed at Clarke. "The doctor knew that you were born on the Ark and wanted to use you for some... experiment. I don't know how she found out, she said your blood was twice as effective as the others'." he bit the inside of his cheek, nervously tugging at his grounder clothes. "If the experiment went well, they would have started with my friends."

   Anya and Clarke exchanged a look, then detached themselves from the wall. The blonde put a hand on Wells' shoulder and squeezed. "You bought your friends some time, then."

   "We need to move." Anya said suddenly, staring at a far spot.

   The other two turned on themselves to see what it was that had gotten the general's attention, and Clarke paled even more. " _Ripa._ "

   "What?" Wells muttered. "The reapers?"

   "Yes." Anya started walking away from the noises and the light, far in the tunnel. "We have to go!"

   Clarke followed her, tugging Wells from the jacket. Even if they were tired and weakened, they were also warriors. They wouldn't give up just because some crazy woman in a white coat had taken their blood.

   "This way!" Anya yelled, taking a turn to the right at an intersection.

   Running behind her, they rushed through the tunnels, their breaths heavy and their footsteps echoing loudly all around them, making it impossible to hear if someone was following them. They kept on running for what felt like hours, hearts hammering in their ribcages, until with a curse Anya stopped abruptly, holding herself up with a hand on the wall. The general stretched her arm to the side, effectively stopping her daughter.

   "Fuck me." Wells whimpered, looking ahead.

   They had found an exit. Only problem, it was a jump of the-spirit-knows-how-many-feet down the wall of a dam and straight into the water below. Hoping there were no rocks, or it would have been the last plunge for all three of them.

   "We have to jump." Anya said, glancing at the other two and then behind them, in the tunnel.

   Clarke nodded, but Wells wasn't so sure. "I... I can't swim." he confessed.

   The two grounders were looking at him with unreadable expressions, but right when Anya was going to say something, they heard footsteps echoing in the tunnel and then a bunch of men in hazmat suit were yelling at them to get away from the edge and surrender, aiming at them with rifles. Wells stiffened, unsure. Clarke instead, clenched her jaw in determination. Taking her mother's hand in her own and squeezing it, the two grounders exchanged a nod and, without warning nor hesitation, they jumped.

   The sensation of falling was awful, so frightening that, if they weren't feeling like air was being sucked out of their lungs, they would have screamed. Holding onto each other's hands like their lives depended on it, they crashed in the water. The impact nocked the little air they still had in their lungs out of them, and they gasped in shock. Regaining some control over themselves, they started looking for Wells.

   " _Where is he?_ " Clarke asked to her mother, worried. " _Can you see him?_ "

   After a few more seconds, they heard a scream and then a body fell heavily in the water, splashing it around. Anya snorted, shaking her head while Clarke dove in to find him and drag him to the surface. Clearly, he had hesitated.

***

   They had been running through the woods for hours. They were headed to the Ark, it was nearer and Clarke knew that, if there were survivors, Lexa would have tried to stick to their plan of forming an alliance to bring down the mountain. If she wasn't there, Wells could have gotten them inside anyway, since he was one of them. It was their best shot at escaping the group of mountain men that was following them.

   "I don't understand. How are they still behind us?" Wells asked to no one in particular, panting heavily after the long run among the trees.

   Anya threw him a glare, her hands on her knees trying to fight the tiredness. "You... You walk too loudly. Like a child." she complained.

   "Yeah well... Not my fault on the Ark there weren't twigs to step on to practice stealth. You know?" he weakly defended himself, still regaining his breath.

   Anya was about to bite back an answer when Clarke stepped next to her, gently grabbing her arm to calm her down. "Ok... We can cover us up with some mud... It could help..." when she saw that her mother still wanted to scold the boy, she added. "He won't be any quieter anyway and we'll just lose time. At least we can disguise ourselves a bit."

   The woman huffed, then crouched with a grunt and started covering herself with the mud. "When did you get so smart?" she mumbled.

   Clarke snorted, doing the same and tugging Wells down to get him to do it as well. "You're the who raised me." Clarke pointed out. "You tell me."

   Wells watched as the two shared a sweet smile, one that made his heart drop. He had shared similar smiles with his own mother once. Seeing those two together like that made him miss his family. If he was lucky, his dad would have made it to the ground. He hoped so.

   He was so lost in his own mind that when Clarke tapped his shoulder to get his attention, he jumped, startled, and then looked at her with wide eyes. The grounder stared at him for a few seconds, then pressed a finger against her lips and nodded toward the small depression of the ground behind them. He turned, only to see a group of Mountain Men, talking loudly among themselves, clearly looking for the three of them. Before Wells could even start to panic, though, Clarke was tugging him by the sleeve.

   "We have to move." she whispered, her eyes seemed even brighter thanks to the stark contrast of the blue of her irises and the dark color of her mud-covered face. "Be _quiet_."

   They carefully walked away, quickly leaving their hunters behind.

 

   After a while though, when they were almost halfway to the Ark, they had to stop to catch their breath. They were sure that the mountain men had lost their traces by now, instead, after a few minutes, they heard their loud voices among the trees.

   "What?" Clarke panted.

   Anya shook her head, her dark-blonde hair sticking to her forehead and her almond eyes wide open in fear. "How can they... still be following us? We're not leaving any traces."

   "They're not." Wells said, a thought suddenly crossing his mind. "They must be tracking us."

   The two women just stared at him with confused expressions, sharing a dubious glance. The boy huffed, he had forgotten for a moment that they knew nothing of technology. It was weird thinking that Clarke had no idea what a tracking device was.

   "It's... You know what, nevermind." he began palming himself, searching his skin. "You have to look for, like, a bump in you skin, not very big, they can find us with them..."

   The two grounders gasped, sharing another look. Then, they both pulled their left sleeve up to the elbow, exposing their left arm. Both women had a small bump in their skin of her forearm, clear sign that Wells was right. The mountain men _were_ tracking them.

   "Ok..." he said to himself, trying to concentrate. "Ok, uh... Clarke you're a healer right? So if we find something sharp you should be able to..."

   He didn't finish the sentence. He could only observe in shock as the two women ripped the device from their arms with an harsh bite, spitting it on the ground. They covered their arms with the sleeves and glanced at his still shocked face.

   "We're not getting back in there." Anya muttered, taking Clarke's hand in her own and squeezing it. "I won't let them take my daughter again. Over my dead body."

   That being said, she started walking again, tugging the blonde healer along. Wells gaped for a second, both impressed by the show of raging badassery put on by the two, and the need to protest against their totally unhygienic methods of devices' removal. He was pretty sure that they were gonna get an infection after having ripped their skin with their teeth, but he forced himself to stop thinking about that and, shaking his head, he just started running to catch up with them.

   Hopefully, they were going to make it to the Ark. To their families.

 

   "We did it." Wells murmured hours later.

   It was late in the evening by the time they reached the Skaikru camp, and it was so dark that they barely saw where they were going, but they had, in fact, made it. What remained of the Alpha station was right in front of them, big and bright and scary against the dark, starry sky. People were still walking around, busying themselves with small jobs, and Clarke had been right about Lexa reaching out to the Skaikru, because they could see a small cluster of tents just out of the camp's perimeter, with fires and Trikru warriors getting ready for bed.

   Clarke and Anya held onto each other's hands, relieved and disbelieving smiles on their lips. No one had ever escaped the mountain before, they couldn't believe that they were still alive, _and_ free.

   "We made it, Clarke." the general said, almost crying in relief. Clarke chocked out a laugh, hugging her mother and hiding her face in the crook of her neck. The older woman buried her free hand in the blonde's hair, kissing her head. "We made it."

   When the two separated, the young healer hugged Wells too, and the boy reciprocated after only a second of hesitation. Stepping back, Clarke smiled at him, a real, genuine smile.

   "Thank you for saving us, Wells."

   The boy just shrugged, not feeling the need for a thank you. Really, it wasn't only him. They had to thank Kay and Kara as well, that had sacrificed themselves to give them the chance to leave. They wouldn't have made it out of the mountain without them distracting the doctor. Anya smiled at him too, it was probably the first time. With a nod, she pointed at the camp.

   "Let's go find Lexa." she said.

   A second later, they heard a loud bang, a rifle shooting. They gasped in shock when Anya jumped and faltered on her feet with a surprised and terrified expression, bringing her hands to her stomach, where an angry, dark red blood stain was getting bigger and bigger, drenching her shirt that started sticking on her skin.

   Her breath became fast and heavy and she fell on the ground.

   Clarke screamed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IF YOU SKIPPED: In the chamber, a scout named Kay took Clarke's place and got used for the treatment, but it didn't spare Clarke for, in the end, she got taken too. Dr Tsing then discovered the mutations in her blood, coming to the conclusion that she was born on the Ark, and wanted to use for experiments. Kara - Nylah's mother, didn't survive.
> 
> Sooo, let me know what you think! Sorry for the ending! kinda...
> 
> NEXT: The reunion, some fluff, and Raven gets some news.


	23. Home In Each Other's Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We discover if Anya survives the bullet, Lexa gets angry, and everyone has family issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I'm late! You can yell at me in the comments!
> 
> WARNING: The first pargraph contains depictions of blood and is kinda angsty. Nothing exessive, but if it bothers you, you can skip it. A recap of that will be in the end notes. Stay safe.
> 
> RECAP: Lexa went to Camp Jaha and got an alliance with the Skaikru, then shared some things about Clarke with Abby and Jake, telling them that she had been taken by the mountain men. Clarke, Anya and Wells managed to escape from the Mountain and reached Camp Jaha. When they got there, though, Anya got shot.

   Clarke couldn't think... She couldn't think of anything except the dark bloodstain soaking her mother's clothes. She screamed, she screamed at the top of her lungs, falling on her knees by the woman's side, tears already rolling down her cheeks. She pressed her hands on Anya's abdomen, trembling like a leaf, trying to stop the blood.

   " _Clarke..._ "

   The girl shook her head, whimpering. " _No._ "

   She faintly heard Wells shouting behind her, or maybe shouting _at_ her, but she couldn't understand his words. She couldn't focus on anything that wasn't her mother's blood drenching her hands, hot and dense. On the trembling hand on her cheek, leaving a red handprint on pale skin.

   " _Clar-ke... I... I..._ " Anya tried to speak, but her breath was too short and heavy, and her eyes couldn't keep the focus, and hot, salty tears were rolling down her sharp cheekbones, leaving clean trails on her mud-covered cheeks. " _Plea-se... You have to... run... get to... safe... Cla... Clarke..._ "

   " _No._ "

   Clarke couldn't breathe, she kept inhaling air without being able to exhale, choking on her own tongue, panic overwhelming her like never before. She started shaking her head continuously, obsessively repeating the word 'no' in her head as if it could stop all of this from happening.

   "Clarke!" a distant voice reached her, but she ignored it.

   " _No. No no no no NO!_ " she let out an angry scream, taking a hold of Anya's hand that rested on her cheek. " _NO, I can't do this... Please mom, please I'm begging you! I don't want to lose you, I CAN'T LOSE YOU, PLEASE!_ "

   "CLARKE!"

   She saw Anya's brown eyes staring at her, her chest raising and falling down quickly, and there was so much blood, so much blood, it was everywhere, it stained her hands, and when she went to cup her mother's cheeks, it stained her skin too, and Clarke couldn't bare the sight. She couldn't, her mother's face stained with dark red blood shocked her, it was all too much...

   She saw the woman's lips part, trying to form a word, trying to speak to her, but she couldn't hear... She couldn't hear anything but her own voice, screaming her pain and denial all over again until her throat was burning and she was on the verge of passing out.

***

Abby was sitting in the middle of the infirmary, with her head in her hands and dried tears on her cheeks. She couldn't believe how close she had been, how close to finally meet her daughter again. The universe had to have a sick sense of humor, for her to land on earth just the day her daughter... died. She didn't have the time to talk to her, to hug her, to look at her properly and tell her what a beautiful woman she had become. Meeting the commander both helped and made it worse. She was relieved to know that Clarke had had a good life, a family, a... lover. To know that she had been alive all that time. Abby had never lost the faith, she had felt it in her bones, back on the Ark, that the girl wasn't dead. Despite all the reasons she had to believe it just like everyone else did, she wouldn't. And she had been right... even if, at the end of the day, she would have never gotten the chance to meet her again. What a cosmic joke, really.

   Jake was holding a meeting with what was left of the council. If they were being honest, both of them just needed something to occupy themselves with until they felt ready to talk. Abby remembered vividly how long it had taken her to be able to look at her husband in the eye after Clarke had fallen on the ground. They could keep going... Together, they would. Sure, they both knew that neither of them would ever be the same, and the world had lost its light the moment Clarke had died, but they could keep going. They would survive. But nothing more than that.

   She was so deep in her own thoughts, that she didn't notice that the night had fallen. The commander had probably left by now... She wasn't sure what to think of the woman. She was a child running some sort of empire, yet she was so fearsome, so scary. She looked so confident and unbothered by anything. Abby was worried about her... relationship with Clarke. Not that it mattered anymore, but what kind of relationship can you have with someone that is so cold and stoic? Of course, if Clarke had chosen her, she must have done something right...

   Suddenly, a shot reached her from outside. She jumped up and in a second, she was out of the medical tent. The grounders were all ready to fight, Indra already yelling orders at the warriors behind her. Then, a blood-chilling scream resounded in the air from over the fence. Abby saw Marcus scold a boy, taking away the rifle he was holding in his hands. Everyone was quiet, the warriors cautiously approaching the source of said scream, until another one, different from the first, reached them, making them all stop in their tracks.

   "HELP! PLEASE HELP! I'M WELLS JAHA, I'M ONE OF THE HUNDRED! PLEASE SHE'S INJURED WE NEED A DOCTOR! HELP!"

***

   Octavia could only watch as they tried to pry Clarke away from Anya, which proved to be an almost impossible task. She punched one of them so hard he stumbled and started bleeding, and it took three warriors and Indra's help to get her to stop fighting back. Once she found herself Indra's arms, though, she simply broke down and started talking nonsense.

   Wells was helping the others transport the injured woman to the infirmary, and Octavia saw Abby falter on her steps when she got sight of Clarke. The woman started walking towards the girl when Wells stepped in front of her, squeezed her shoulders and told her:

   "She's her mother, Abby. You _have_ to save her! Now!"

   She looked shocked for less than a second, those words striking her deep enough to cause the doctor to pull herself out of her stupor and run to medical, reading herself to operate.

   "Octavia!"

   The girl jumped when she heard Indra call her name in an urgent tone.

   "What can I do?" the girl asked, fidgeting. She was doing her best not to look at an almost passed out Clarke, covered in mud and blood, limp in the woman's hug.

   "Get on your horse and run towards TonDC, you have to bring the commander here as fast as you can. Go!"

 

    _In the forest_

   Lexa sat darkly on top of her horse, quietly riding through the woods. Her hands were clutching the reins a bit too tightly, and she was unconsciously clenching her jaw. The talk with the Griffins had been uncomfortable but necessary, and it had left her with a raging need to cry. But she wouldn't. Not until she was back in her tent.

   Gustus and Aghon were right behind her, both quiet, throwing her worried glances from time to time. Neither of them dared say anything, knowing that when the commander was in such a mood, the best thing to do was let her work her way out of it. Unless you were Clarke, then you could just go and pull her out of it.

   But Clarke wasn't there now, was she?

   At least that was what they all were thinking, until a voice started calling from behind and the group stopped. A single horse came galloping through the forest, panting heavily because of the fast run, and on top of it, a small figure with wide eyes and dark hair was calling to get her attention.

   "Commander! Commander, wait!"

   She tugged the reins and pulled the horse to a stop right in front of the woman, that stared at her with a raised eyebrow and a blank expression.

   "Octavia." she nodded at her.

   The girl was clearly upset and in a hurry, and was breathing heavily. "Commander... It's Clarke."

   The woman's head snapped up and her green eyes bore into the girl's ones. "What?!"

   The girl glanced at the warriors all around her, staring at her with disbelief.

   She nodded. "It's true... I saw her with my eyes. She's back at Camp Jaha, with Anya and Wells, but you need to come back right now because Anya is injured and-"

   "Is this some sort of joke, sky girl?" Lexa asked through gritted teeth, her hands now shaking and clammy.

   "No, Heda." Octavia swallowed, doing her best to maintain the eye contact even if it was difficult. "Indra sent me to tell you, I swear it's true."

   Lexa didn't take the time to consider every possibility like she would have if it was anyone else that they were talking about. She didn't try to see it in a different perspective to understand if she was doing the right thing, she didn't ask anyone's opinion to know if she was making the right decision. The moment the possibility of Clarke being still alive had been put in front of her, she had already made up her mind.

   She was going to see if it was true.

   Turning towards the warriors behind her, all of them wearing surprised expressions on their faces, she nodded at Gustus and Aghon, that were gaping at her, and started pulling at the reins to get Hera to move.

   " _You two with me, the rest go to TonDC!_ "

   Without waiting for an answer to her order, she launched her horse to a crazy gallop, Octavia and the two men right behind her. For the first time after Clarke's capture, a tiny ray of hope was lighting up inside her. Was it possible? Nobody had ever escaped the mountain. Could it really be true? And Anya? Why was she injured? Too many questions were fogging up her brain, but one thing was always clear as day in her thoughts, always present, like a golden strand of hope.

   Clarke was alive.

 

    _Camp Jaha_

   A small group of people barged in the medical tent where Abby was operating. The woman had lost a lot of blood but if she managed to get the bullet out and close up the would, there was a good chance that she would survive.

   Glancing at the group she spotted Indra. The woman was holding an almost passed out Clarke, limp in her arms. Looking around, she realized the only bed was already occupied by Anya, that Abby was trying to save, so the dark-haired warrior reached a metallic table and started barking out orders in an angry voice, still holding the girl in her arms. After less than a minute, two young scouts ran back into the tent carrying furs, and laid them on the table, creating a soft and warm surface. Then Indra gently lowered the blonde girl down on the furs and muttered to a guy to bring her something to wash the mud off of her.

   While a few big men formed a wall around the table to give them some privacy, Indra started to take care of the girl she had known for all those years. With a hand she brushed a strand of hair away from Clarke's eyes, and then, gently, comforted her.

   " _It will be ok, child. You'll be ok._ "

   ///

   Abby wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, taking a long, deep breath. Slowly, she put the needle on the nearby table and let her arms fall to her sides.

   "You did great, Abby." Jackson whispered to her. "She's going to be ok, now."

   The doctor nodded, a faint smile bending her lips for only a second, before vanishing in a tired frown. Anya had luckily passed out before she started to operate, or she would have felt everything she was doing since she didn't have any anesthetics. It had been so _hard_ to concentrate with Indra one foot away, taking care of Clarke behind a wall made of warriors.

   Shaking herself out of her reverie, the doctor went to wash her hands from the blood and then took one of the furs the grounders had brought. She draped it over Anya, making sure to cover her entirely from feet to shoulders.

   "What is going to happen to her?" Indra's deep voice startled her.

   Abby turned, looking at the warriors that were now calmly walking out of the medical tent, shooting glances at the two sleeping women and glares at the doctors. She nodded to Jackson, that understood immediately and left.

   "She..." Abby started with a sigh. "She's going to recover completely, I think. It will take some time, but she'll be fine."

   The scowling woman seemed to take a deep breath of relief, before nodding and straightening her armor.

   "I need to check on her, now." Abby said, her voice slightly trembling, while nodding towards Clarke.

   To say that it was awkward would have been an understatement. For whatever reason, Indra kept staring at her like a hawk, studying her every move. But Abby was way too focused to notice. After all those years, Clarke was right there. Right there! Checking her heartbeat, the doctor almost burst out crying when she heard it. A slow, steady and strong heartbeat that all but confirmed that her amazing girl was here, alive. Real. And, after some more checking, overall fine.

   With a relieved sigh, Abby lifted a trembling hand. When it made contact with the warm, smooth skin of Clarke's cheek, the tears she had tried so desperately to hold back broke free and started rolling down her face. God, Clarke was so beautiful. So grown up. Her blonde hair was shining and her skin wasn't as pale as she remembered, but she was her Clarke. And she had missed her so much. So much she almost became an alcoholic. So much she drowned herself in work to avoid thinking because if she did, she would have thought of her. And it hurt too much.

   But now. Now she was here. Abby's tears slowly let space to a smile.

   For the first time after ten years, she felt like she could finally breathe again.

***

   Lexa jumped off her horse the moment she entered the camp, shaking and filled with nervous energy. She passed the reins to the first warrior she saw and then strode towards the first familiar face, leaving the other three behind. In this case, the familiar face was Jake. The man was sat outside of a small tent, his eyes red and swollen and an desperate expression on his tired face.

   When she reached him, the man noticed her and got up, his eyes wide, looking unsure.

   "Commander-" she didn't even let him finish.

   "Where are they?!" she asked in an icy voice.

   The man stumbled backwards, trying to put at least a small distance between himself and the woman. "Commander, they're both in the infirmary, but no one's allowed to enter."

   Lexa took another step forward. "Where is the infirmary?"

   The chancellor shook his head, pointing at the small tent behind him. "It's over there, but- wait!"

   He stepped sideways to prevent her form barging in said tent. Aghon and Gustus, that had caught up with her and were now behind the woman, brought their hands to their swords, ready to protect her, while Octavia stopped a few feet away, staring at the scene with an unreadable expression. Lexa stared at the tall man in front of her with a determined look in her eyes, and he sighed.

   "We can't go in." Jake said, glancing at all of them alternatively, stopping for a few seconds more on the woman. "Abby's still operating that woman... Anya. We can't get in, but Indra's taking care of Clarke, she's safe."

   Lexa was unsure, she didn't know if she could trust the man's word, but at the same time, Octavia had told her that Indra had sent her to call her, right? She wouldn't lie about that, it would have been stupid as she could just ask the general and sure as hell Indra wouldn't lie to her. Plus, she was nowhere to be seen, so Lexa decided that that part was probably true and Indra _was_ indeed taking care of Clarke.

   Meaning that Clarke _was alive_.

   Nodding slightly, Lexa took several deep breaths and resisted the urge to cry in relief. Damn, she was doing a lot of crying lately, but not now. Now she just wanted to run in the damn infirmary and hold Clarke in her arms, smell her scent, make sure that she was really there. That this wasn't some dream, and that she wasn't going to wake up alone in their bed, feeling empty and cold. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, trying to beat it's way out of her ribcage, and she felt like she was about to explode. The thought of Clarke and Anya really being alive was filling her with so much joy and unbelievable relief that her head was light and she was floating two feet above the ground.

   Suddenly, a dark figure came to a stop beside Jake, and the man rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. She turned her head a bit and raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw Wells, his eyes swollen and shoulders hunched like the weight of the world was pulling him down.

   "Commander." He croaked out in a broken voice, thick with tears.

   "Wells." she greeted him.

   After a few minutes the three of them were sat on a bench a few feet from the entrance of the infirmary. Lexa discovered that the reason Wells was so desperate was that he had just discovered about his father's death. He had been so sure that he would have found him there when he got back from the mountain, but then when he had entered the camp and had asked about him, they had told him. Thelonius Jaha was dead. He had sacrificed himself to allow his people to reach the ground. A good death, Lexa thought. A leader's death.

   She had also gotten him to explain to her how exactly they had escaped from the mountain men. Listening to him talking about what they were doing her people, what they had done to Anya and to _Clarke_ , had made her blood boil. She could feel an overwhelming anger consume her, along with the sheer need to see Clarke. To make sure she was ok. To see if those bastards had hurt her, so that she could plan her revenge on them accordingly to the damage they had done to her beautiful girl and her mentor. They were going to pay.

   Jus drein jus daun.

 

   "How longer do we have to wait?" Lexa asked impatiently, trying her best to appear calm and collected.

   Jake glanced at his watch. "Not much longer I think."

   Aghon started pacing back and forth, while Gustus just huffed, studying their surroundings. Both men straightened their back when they heard Kane's voice scolding a small group of people. Interested, Lexa walked towards them, followed by Jake and the two warriors.

   "I'm going to ask for the last time, who gave this gun to him?" Kane was asking, his voice angry but controlled.

   A blonde woman dressed as a guard sighed. "I did, sir."

   The man ran a hand through his dark hair, sighing deeply. "Byrne. We can't afford untrained people to use guns, for this time I'll let it pass, but-"

   "Wait a minute." Lexa's voice cut him off.

   The man turned, wide eyed, and met Jake's eyes, looking for help. The commander walked straight up to him, her green eyes shining with barely contained fury.

   "Are you saying that the person who _shot my general_ wasn't even a guard?" she asked through gritted teeth, the people around fidgeting, not knowing what to do. "And you're _letting it pass?!_ "

   "Commander, I understand that-" Kane tried to say, maintaining a calm exterior.

   "No!" she said, taking a step towards the man. "Who is it."

   Kane shook his head, glancing at Jake. "Commander..." the chancellor tried to say something, but a glare from Gustus quickly shut him up.

   Lexa took another step towards Kane, and the guards behind him lifted their guns, aiming at her. She didn't stop though, and both Aghon and Gustus, as well as the other Trikru warriors that were near enough to notice it, immediately jumped in action, unsheathing their weapons. The Skaikru were clearly outnumbered, so that, to prevent them to get hurt, Jake ordered them to lower their guns.

   "Who. Is. It." Lexa asked in an icy voice, her nose only a few inches from Kane's face.

   "I won't tell you if you plan to kill him." Marcus said, his voice low and scared, but determined.

   The woman was about to say something to him when a young man stepped forward, clearing his throat. "It... It was me."

   Lexa's eyes met his, and he lowered his head. His breath hitched when she saw the woman's boots stop in front of him, but he didn't dare to lift his gaze.

   "You're the one who shot my general?" she asked, her voice a low growl.

   The boy nodded. "I'm sorry."

   There was a pause, when everyone around them waited for a reaction, the air so heavy with tension that it could have been cut with a knife. Then, in a swift motion, Lexa's hands grabbed the boy's collar and yanked him towards her, until their noses were practically touching and he couldn't avoid her furious green eyes. Immediately, the Skaikru tried to lift their guns and were stopped by her warriors, that formed a human wall between her and the guards.

   "Commander!" Kane and Jake exclaimed at the same time, trying to get to her, but Aghon and Gustus stepped in front of them, blocking their paths. "Commander, please wait!"

   Lexa ignored them, her gaze still fixated on the man in front of her. He was staring at her with wide eyes, his hands weakly gripping her forearms while her hands were still fisting the collar of his shirt.

   "Do you wish to die?" she asked him in a deadly serious tone.

   He shook his head. "N-no. No."

   "Then give me a good reason to spare your life. Why did you shoot?" she asked. "And be quick."

   The boy gulped loudly, nodding feverishly while trying to find the right words that would have gotten him out of trouble. "They said... they said to shoot at sight." he stated. "I thought they were those mountain men, I didn't know they weren't enemies. I wouldn't have... I wouldn't have shot if I had known." he blinked quickly, wetting his lips. "I- I swear. I'm sorry."

   Lexa stared at him with her lips sealed and her jaw clenched, her arms shaking for the nervous tension. He looked sincere, but she was so worried, and so _angry_ , and the woman who had been like a mother to her was being operated and could be _dying_ because of him and all he had to day was: 'I'm sorry'? It was not enough. It wasn't fucking enough. What if Anya died? What if he had hit Clarke too? He could have been responsible for both their deaths. The thought sent chills down her spine.

   " _Heda!_ " Indra's voice suddenly reached her, but she didn't shift her gaze. " _Heda! They said the operation has ended, you can go in and see them._ "

_That_ got her attention. She glanced at Indra and then at the boy, her jaw still clenched, so tight it was starting to hurt. With a huff, she released her hold on the young man, sending him stumbling backwards and almost falling on the ground.

   " _Stand down._ " she said to her warriors, that immediately followed her order. Looking at both Kane and Jake, she said in a low, scary voice: "If I see _one_ untrained person walking around with one of those _guns_ again, there will be consequences."

   After that, she glanced briefly at the group of sky people behind her - only to send them a vicious glare - and then started walking quickly towards the medical bay, her thoughts now filled with concern about the two most important people in her life. She stopped right in front of the entrance, nervously breathing in and out, swallowing the lump in her throat. What was she going to find inside?

   She was so concentrated in calming herself down, that she almost didn't notice that Jake had followed her, and was now by her side. He stared at her for a few long seconds, as if searching for something. Then he started fidgeting and after a while he huffed, taking a deep breath and then clearing his throat.

   "Commander, can I ask you something?" he asked, unsure, twirling the chancellor spin with his fingers.

   Lexa glanced at him, then nodded.

   "Clarke... She doesn't see Abby and I as her parents anymore, does she?"

   Lexa's head snapped up, surprised that he didn't want to talk about what had just happened with the boy, and her eyes met the man's blue ones. Spirit, they were just like Clarke's. How could she say to him that it was true? That Clarke hadn't thought about them as 'her parents' for years, now? Her silece must have given her thoughts away, because the man just nodded to himself, struggling to hold back the tears.

   "I figured." Jake said. "The way she talked to us that day... via radio, when she was still at the Dropship."

   Lexa clenched her jaw so tightly that she thought her teeth were about to crumble. The mere thought of Clarke being held prisoner by that bunch of idiots made her want to up and kill someone. Specifically, Bellamy.

   She shook her head a little to get rid of those thoughts when she heard the man talk again.

   "I should have imagined it... after all this time. But for a parent is hard to just let it go, and I hoped... Abby hoped..."

   "She's not the same person she was when she fell, chancellor." Lexa said, almost surprised that her voice didn't shake. "She has a life here, and you haven't been part of it."

   He nodded, looking down at his feet. "Yeah, I know." he paused for a few seconds, thinking. "I just hope that she'll agree to have us in her life. Somehow."

   The commander nodded quietly, her sharp green eyes studying the man beside her. "You'll have to ask Clarke about that. I can't answer for her."

***

    _Thump thump thump, swish._

_Thump thump thump, swish._

_Thump thump thump, swish._

   What the fuck?

   Clarke tried to blink her eyes open, but there was too much light and her head hurt like hell. She tried shifting her body with a groan, damn everything hurt and her muscles were stiff, but she could also feel something warm and soft wrapped around her. Furs? Was she in a bed?

    _Thump thump thump, swish, sigh._

   Ok, what?

   She opened her eyes. Lexa was pacing wildly near her, going back and forth in the small space she had. Her boots were thumping on the hard, metallic floor, and her long coat skimmed the cold surface, swishing with every sharp turn. She looked like she hadn't slept in days and she was chewing on her fingernails. She _never_ chewed on her fingernails.

   "Lexa..." the blonde croaked out, her voice raspy and tired.

   The commander stopped abruptly and turned on her heels to stare at her. With a choked "Clarke!" she launched towards her and enveloped her in a tight hug. Clarke hugged her back immediately, comforted by her scent, by the strength of the hug. She felt Lexa bury a hand in her blonde hair and press her cold nose into her neck, breathing her in.

   "I thought I had lost you!" she said in a voice so broken that it made Clarke's heart squeeze painfully in her chest. "I was so- I couldn't even-"

   After a few more seconds, Lexa broke the hug to look at her properly. She cupped her cheeks in the most gentle way, mindful of the cuts on her pale skin, and her green eyes studied her, worried and almost reverent. Her bottom lips was trembling and a few tears had escaped her eyes, leaving thin, clean trails in her warpaint. Clarke covered her hands with her own, attempting a reassuring smile. Seeing Lexa so worried and fragile was killing her, making her blink away her own tears.

   "I'm ok." she whispered. Her sore throat couldn't manage anything more than that. "I promise I'm ok."

   Wide, loving eyes scanned her face in awe, looking for any sign that something was wrong. A gloved hand brushed a strand of blonde hair away from blue eyes and Lexa let out a deep breath, one that she didn't know she was holding. It was like she could finally breathe again after days, and her heart expanded until if felt like it wouldn't fit in her chest anymore. Clarke smiled again, reaching over with a hand and gently wiping away the few wandering tears on her lover's cheeks. Lexa closed her eyes, basking in the soft touch.

   "I'm here." Clarke whispered, tugging her closer until their foreheads were resting against each other. "I'm here Lex."

   The brunette sniffled quietly, trying to nod. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

   Strong arms enveloped her again, and both women just held onto each other with desperate relief.

   They were home.

 

   Clarke was extremely relieved to find out that Anya was going to be ok. When she had first seen her, laying on the bed unconscious, she had gasped in shock and was on the verge of panicking, but Lexa had explained to her that Abby had been able to save her. The blonde was so happy to know that her mother wasn't going to die that she burst in tears, holding onto Lexa for dear life. The woman was now resting on the single bed in the room, her breath heavy and slow and her skin terribly pale, but at least she was alive. She was alive.

   Clarke and Lexa spent several minutes just looking at the woman sleeping, cuddled up in each other. They couldn't believe that they where all together again.

   "We should wash away your warpaint." Clarke murmured after a long time spent like that, wrapped up in each other, alone in the small tent.

   Lexa rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder, her arms securely wrapped around the other girl's waist. She breathed in her sharp and sweet scent, then glanced at Anya's sleeping form and sighed.

   "Why?" she whispered, pressing her nose against her skin.

   Clarke smiled, a sweet, loving, awed smile that expressed all the wonder and love she felt for the woman next to her. "Because we don't want anyone thinking that I made you cry, do we?"

   The commander's lips twitched and formed a little smile, her green eyes fixated on the girl, shining with newfound happiness. "Whatever you want." she murmured.

   Still smiling, Clarke took the items Indra had used to wash her in her own hands and turned a bit towards the brunette, leaving a chaste kiss on her lips. Then she took the little sponge and dipped it in the water. With the utmost care, she began to gently wipe away the warpaint, leaving Lexa's skin clean, and rosy, and soft. The woman's green eyes fell shut after a minute, throughly enjoying the sensation of Clarke taking care of her, a feeling she had been convinced to never be able to experience again. But the gods were being good to her, and had granted her a second chance.

   By the time she was finished, Clarke's eyelids were drooping and she was practically asleep. Lexa put away the sponge and water bowl and went back to Clarke's side.

   "Rest." she murmured, tucking her safely under the furs. "You need it."

   "But what if-" she started, yawning.

   Lexa pressed a finger on her lips, silencing her. "If Anya wakes up, I'll tell you. Ok? Now rest."

   Clarke sneaked a hand out of the furs and took Lexa's one in her own. She kissed it, pressed it to her cheek with a little smile.

   "Stay?"

   "Always."

***

   On the outside, sitting around a table, Abby, Jake and a few delinquents were quietly eating a late dinner. Or well, more like trying to.

   While Bellamy and Finn had no problems stuffing their faces with the food the grounders had provided, the other three weren't in the mood to eat. Wells was haunched over the plate, with his head resting on a fist while he picked at his food with a blank expression, still unable to fully process his father's death. One day he was there, the other he was gone. He was officially an orphan now. He wasn't sure about what he was feeling at the moment. He was sad and angry... but at the same he didn't feel quite _that_ lost. Sure, there was a void inside him now, but it was almost like a throbbing ache deep inside of him, too far down to actually be the cause of problems, but persistent and oppressive, like a weight resting on his chest, making it hard to breathe, but not heavy enough to suffocate him.

   As for Abby and Jake, they were just playing absent-mindedly with their food while glancing at the infirmary. Gustus and Aghon were guarding the entrance, silent and serious. The black haired man glared at everyone, Trikru or Skaikru alike, that dared to walk too near the tent, while Aghon kept fidgeting and would rub his eyes, almost as if he was trying not to let anyone see the few tears that were threatening to escape.

   "I can't believe they're not letting us go in there." Abby mumbled, glaring at the two men. "I saved that woman's life and in return I can't see my daughter."

   "Abby." her husband warned, trying not to snap at her. He had been on edge all day long. "We've been over this. I told you, the commander confirmed what we already knew. None of them sees us as her parents. In their eyes, we have no right to go in there and see her."

   "You can't seriously tell me that you're fine with that!" she exclaimed, her voice angry and sharp.

   "Of course I'm not!" Jake answered, similarly angry. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "I'm not ok with any of that."

   "Then what?" the woman asked impatiently, her voice trembling and cracking.

   The engineer stretched his arms over the table and took her hands in his own, squeezing to provide her comfort. "I know how you feel, Abby. But, you need to understand that if we push, we'll lose her forever. We have to go at her pace, at _their_ pace."

   "I... I don't know how..." the doctor shook her head, tears already filling her eyes. She stared in the man's eyes, trying to find some comfort, a promise.

   He shook his head. "We just need to be patient."

 

   Octavia was roaming the camp, momentarily doing nothing, and spotted her brother sitting at a table with a bunch of others, eating, and she hesitated. She knew he deserved a square kick in the ass for all the shit he had pulled during the last few weeks, but truth be told he was trying now and she missed him. Now that Lincoln was... missing, she felt the need to have someone close, someone special. And even if it annoyed her to no end, Bellamy was special to her.

   After a few moments of deep thinking, the dark haired girl sighed and walked over to the table, sitting down in the seat on Bellamy's left. The boy glanced her way, smiled, and passed her a plate. They were going to be ok.

   While she was eating with the others, Octavia didn't pay attention to what the adults were saying, until they started talking about the commander.

   "I don't know, Jake... I don't really trust her. Did you see her? She looked so cold."

   The man sighed. "Abby..."

   "I'm not trying to be a bitch, ok?" the woman continued. "I'm just saying, she's been nothing but ice cold all the time, and the first - and only - time we get to see her act emotional is when she's so furious she almost killed a man."

   "She's always like that." Octavia said, without even meaning to to. She was talking before her mind could catch up with her mouth.

   Everyone stared at her.

   "What are you saying?" Abby asked, wide eyed.

   The younger girl sighed and shrugged, swallowing the bite of food she was chewing on. "Just, spending time with Indra I got to observe her, kind of, and yeah she's not the emotional type. Unless she wants to beat you up. Just around Clarke and-"

   "So she's different with Clarke?" Abby asked, narrowing her eyes.

   Bellamy snorted, elbowing Finn that was sat on his right. "I mean, yeah..." The curly haired boy said with a grin, while the other one stared at his food. "She's all protective and stuff." he grinned.

   Octavia rolled her eyes at her brother, trying to hide her own grin. "He's right... Trust me she's in good hands."

   Abby and Jake let out a sigh of relief, smiling briefly at each other. The man nodded to himself and went back to his food, feeling better knowing that Clarke was being taken care of. Abby looked relieved as well, it was almost like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but at the same time she looked both confused and curious.

   "Octavia... you said that you're Indra's apprentice, right?"

   "I am."

   "Then you might know this. Is the fact that Clarke is the commander's partner that everyone seems so respectful of her? Or is it because of something else?"

   Everyone stilled. Even Wells, that had remained quiet and distracted throughout the condensation, now was suddenly interested. They all just stared at the young girl.

   Octavia frowned, chewing viciously, then swallowed the bite and shrugged. "I think that's because she has some sort of holy role, like a priestess, like, Indra said she's one the guardians of the commander's spirit." she scrunched up her nose in concentration. "Flaimkeeper! That's what she said Clarke is."

   Finn reddened, even if nobody noticed. He could only think about all the times he had been hitting on her. A priestess. He was hitting on a priestess. What the fuck.

   As for the others, the all seemed to have frozen in their positions. The Griffins were trying to process the new. Their little artist was a priestess. She had told them about her job as a healer, during the short time they had talked through the radio, when they were still on the Ark. But this, this was so new and... different. Unexpected. The more time they spent on the ground, the more they realized how little they knew of her. The two shared a sad glance, reaching out to take each other's hands, searching for comfort.

   Wells and Bellamy, instead, were having opposite thoughts. While Wells was just glad that his friend had achieved such a thing as becoming a greatly important figure for her people, it was slowly sinking in, in Bellamy's mind, that he had old a gun against the head of someone that an entire population looked up to. Not just someone's girlfriend, or daughter, no, it had to be the guardian priestess. He ran a hand through his curly hair, cursing to himself.

   After a few moments of silence, Abby nodded to herself, clearing her throat. "This explains a few things."

   "Like wha-"

   "Hey, people!"

   They all jumped, startled by the new voice, while Octavia chocked on her food and her brother had to slap her on the back to help her.

   "Is she ok?" Raven asked, pointing at the girl with a curious look in her eyes.

   Bellamy nodded at her, and the brunette just shrugged and went to sit on Wells left side, right on front of Finn. The two exchanged an awkward smile and the mechanic turned towards the only two adults at the table.

   "I have news. Mount Weather is jamming us."

   Jake stiffened, narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean?"

   "Look, Monty had discovered a noise, like a disturbance, in the Exodus' black box that basically said that something had interfered with it, making it crash." Raven explained, looking deadly serious and professional. "Now, I checked your radio and you can hear the same damn noise on every channel. That's why you couldn't contact the other stations. Those motherfuckers are jamming us."

   The Chancellor, that was basically the only one at the table who had some sort of knowledge about this topic, sighed heavily, his shoulders sagged. The man pressed a hand over his eyes, trying to absorb the information. "Have you thought of a way to solve it?"

   The girl toyed with the raven shaped pendant hanging from her neck. "Of course I did. I think, for being able to disturb our signals from so far away, they gotta have something like a radio tower to amplify their own. It should be very high, so we should be able to spot it from a safe distance. We just need to blow it up."

   The others at the table just shared several worried glances, until the man's blue eyes found his wife's face and stopped there, pensive. After another couple seconds, he nodded.

   "We'll go tomorrow."

***

   Anya felt something move in the background, but she wouldn't have been able to say what it was. There were little noises, like someone breathing or... breathing very fast. And whispers.

   Was it what the afterlife was like? Dark, warm, uncomfortable and with weird background noises?

   The general tried to move, but she soon discovered that she couldn't. Her limbs were heavy, she couldn't feel most of her body and the little of it that she could actually feel, hurt. She tried blinking, but a sharp white light stabbed her in the eyes, making her whimper quietly. She swallowed, well she tried to but her mouth was so dry it felt like she had eaten the sand of the Sankru desert.

   Slowly and painfully, the woman finally managed to open her eyes, and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling. It looked like a tent... but not a normal one. It was kind of yellowish, and... where were all the furs and candles? Ok, she found the furs, they were all around her, wrapped around her body like a protective blanket. But still no candles... so it couldn't be one of Lexa's quarters.

   In an effort to discover more of her surroundings, Anya turned her head to the side, careful not to strain her already sore neck, and raised her eyebrows at the scene unfolding in front of her. It was something she was sure, she was never going to get used to witness. Also, she finally found out where the background noises came from.

   She saw Clarke, whimpering quietly, sat on a nearby table, with her hands on Lexa's hips, while the brunette stood between her legs with her arms around her neck. They were making out. _Obviously_.

   The woman blinked a few times, watching the scene and rolling her eyes to herself. Of course, those two would be making out. Of fucking course. She tried clearing her throat, but she failed. When Lexa's hands started traveling south over her daughter's body and she couldn't see Clarke's hands anymore, though, she snapped her eyes shut and forced herself to cough, trying to get their attention.

   Thank the spirit, it worked. A second later both girls were by her side, and the woman smiled.

   "Nomon!" Clarke exclaimed, her blue eyes already filling with tears. "Spirit, are you ok? I was so worried! Do you need anything?"

   She tried talking, even if it was unusually difficult. "Wa-water."

   Lexa threw her a smile and passed her a glass. She helped her drink, wiping away the few drops that rolled down her chin, while Clarke gently stroked dirty blonde locks away from her sweaty forehead.

   "What..." she started, frowning in confusion. "Why am I alive? I got... I got shot, right?"

   Anya asked, not understanding how it was possible that she wasn't dead. A bullet in the stomach wasn't something she'd expected to survive. Immediately, Lexa wrapped an arm around Clarke's waist, kissing her shoulder over her shirt in a sign of support. The blonde smiled a tiny smile, covering the hand on her hip with her own and intertwining their fingers, before taking a deep breath.

   "Abby saved you." she said. "When... when you fell, Wells called for help and... I don't know what she did, but she saved you."

   The two stared at Anya for several moments, during which she just stared blankly at her daughter, almost like her words were too difficult to comprehend. Then, she bit her bottom lip and nodded slightly.

   "I see." she said, her lips tight and her eyebrows furrowed. "So, she made it out alive, uh? How wonderful."

   Clarke couldn't help but snort at that, chuckling quietly and shaking her head, looking at her mother with love. Anya smiled, lifting a hand to gently stroke the blonde's cheek.

   "Seriously, though." she started. "I just want you to know, I won't keep you away from her. Or from Jake. As long as they don't try to steal you away from me, if you want them to be in your life..."

   "Hey." Clarke whispered, covering the hand on her cheek with her own. "Nobody will ever steal me away from you."

   "Good." a few seconds passed, then: "Are we actually going to talk about the fact that you two were making out like, five minutes ago while I was still unconscious?"

   Lexa just started smirking, raising an eyebrow in such a smug expression that Clarke wasn't sure if it made her want to slap her, or kiss her. "Can you blame me?" the brunette said, her voice sounding way too serious, while Anya groaned rolling her eyes with a smile.

   " _Lexa._ " Clarke scolded her, a cute smile bending her lips.

   "What?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Paragraph: Clarke tries to help Anya, but she can't and gives in to panic. Anya tries to tell her to run and get safe but she's too weak and passes out before she can do it. Clarke passes out.
> 
> Soo, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think of it?
> 
> Next Chapter: Anya and Abby butt heads, a group goes to the radio tower, and dear Lincoln is that you?


	24. Of Radio Towers And Ripas (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya has to deal witth the aftermath of her injury, while the others go to the radio tower. Murphy plays the good guy.  
> Some Clexa fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, here's a new chapter. Small note, since it was taking too long to write it, I decided to split it in two.  
> Also, since flashbacks are written in italic, trigedasleng will be written normally in those parts. In the present instead, it will be in italic as usual.
> 
> Note 2: I just realized Clarke has another tattoo I had forgot to mention before, on her right shoulder. It's the traditional tattoo of the Fleimkepa, the same Titus has on his head.
> 
> All mistakes are my own, sorry about them. Enjoy!
> 
> Recap: Abby saved Anya from the bullet wound, while Lexa almost killed the guy that shot her. Octavia and Bellamy made peace, Finn started to really regret his actions about Clarke, when Raven tells everyone that Mount Weather is jamming their signals with a radio tower. Clarke, Anya and Lexa reunited.

   "I still think this way of moving is shit."

   Several people laughed at Raven's complaint about the saddle. She kept fidgeting and shifting and huffing, so much that even the horse was starting to lose his patience.

   "You're kidding, right?!" Jake asked from his horse, clutching the reins as if his life depended on it and smiling like a kid in the candy store. "This is awesome! Real horses!"

   Lexa heard Clarke chuckle quietly beside her and sent her a small smile. Reaching out, she took her hand and squeezed, gaining a cute smirk from the blonde. She was happy to be back outside, even if she kept on missing Anya. She felt a wider smile bending her lips at the thought of the woman's face when she had been told that she couldn't go with them.

 

    _That morning_

_"Everything seems fine." Abby said, changing the bandage on the woman's wound and handing her her shirt._

_Anya snatched the garment from her hands with a snort. "Of course I'm fine, I told you. It will take more than a stupid Skaikru bullet to kill me."_

_After that, she tried to put the shirt on, but she couldn't lift her arms and soon enough, she got stuck. Her arms were in the sleeves, but she couldn't get her head in the hole. She sighed, and lifted a finger in the air, glaring at Abby._

_"Don't you dare. I don't need help." she muttered._

_"Clearly." the doctor said, crossing her arms._

_"Hey, just because you happened to be there and save my life once, doesn't mean you get to be sassy with me. Clear?" Anya threatened her, while still trying to get her head in the shirt._

_"I know. You don't owe anything to me." Abby assured her, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I owe you."_

_That got Anya's attention, that stopped for a moment to try and wear the clothe in exchange to stare at the doctor. "What?"_

_"Jake and I... we talked to the commander, briefly, when we agreed on the truce." she started. "She told us that you adopted Clarke and raised her as your own."_

_"I did." the general murmured._

_The other woman nodded. "Thank you."_

_They just stared at each other for a few seconds, then Anya huffed and nodded as well. "Ok. But don't get weird ideas. I only tolerate you because of her."_

_That being said she went back to try and put the damn shirt on, under Abby's stare. After a few more minutes, the doctor just slapped her hands away and tugged the shirt up, finally getting the woman's head in the hole. Then pulled it down her body, like she would have done with a child, with a judgmental frown. Anya was so shocked that she was left speechless for a few seconds. Then crossed her arms on her chest and glared a hole in Abby's head._

_"I told you I didn't need help!" she exclaimed._

_Abby scoffed, planting her hands on her hips. "Clearly you did. You just got operated, if you had kept going on with that you could have pulled your stitches!"_

_"Ha! I'm ready to bet that's just some excuse to-"_

_"An excuse?! Are you implying that-"_

_"What's going on here?"_

_Lexa's voice interrupted their bickering, and the two women briefly glanced at her, standing there with her hands pulling at the straps of her coat, fixing it on her lean figure. A second later, Clarke walked in the tent as well, fully clothed and ready for the day, immediately followed by Jake._

_"Nothing, I was just changing her bandage." Abby stated, taking a breath._

_The blonde girl walked swiftly towards her mother, that was engaged in a glaring contest with Abby. She didn't notice the way the doctor looked at her, her gaze filled with painful longing, because she was too worried about Anya's wellbeing to even glance her way. Abby swallowed the lump in her throat, intertwining her fingers with Jake's, drawing comfort from the action._

_Anya huffed when Clarke lifted her shirt to examine the bandage._

_"It seems fine." she commented._

_The general scoffed, throwing her arms in the air in frustration. The act caused her to wince, her hands going to cover the injury. "That's what I said. I'm fine."_

_Clarke just stared at her, an eyebrow raised and a '_ I'm not buying it _' expression on her face. "Sure." she said._

_Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Lexa cleared her throat, letting her hand lazily rest on the hilt of her sword. "We just came to tell you that we're about to leave with a small escort, we'll lead the Skaikru to the tower that belongs to the maunon." she explained in a calm voice. "Indra's going to report to you while we're away, and she will also inform you of everything that's happened during your absence."_

_The woman's almond eyes widened in disbelief, her mouth hanging open in shock. "What!?" she blurted out, looking alternatively at both Lexa and Clarke. "No way, I'm coming with you."_

_Before anyone else could protest, Abby had already stepped forward, bravely stopping the woman from climbing down the bed with a hand on her shoulder. Anya glared at her, but she just glared back, a look of determination in her brown eyes._

_"You're not going anywhere." the doctor said._

_The other woman's cheek twitched, as if she was trying to contain her frustrations. "And who exactly do you think you are to come here and tell me what to do?"_

_Everyone froze, just watching the two women with wide eyes._

_"I'm a_ doctor _, that's who I am." Abby shot back, once again planting her hands on her hips. "Are_ you _a doctor?"_

_Anya clenched her jaw so hard it looked like it was on the verge of breaking. "I'm a_ general _." she growled through gritted teeth._

_"Well, I am the doctor who_ just yesterday _pulled a bullet out of your stomach." she pointed out. "That means that you won't leave this bed until I say you can. You could reopen your wound!"_

_Seeing that the general was about to talk back again, Clarke stepped in, raising a hand and gently forcing Anya to meet her eyes._

_"_ Nomon, she's right. _" she said, her voice sweet. "_ That kind of injury is dangerous, if you tire yourself out it could kill you. _"_

_Anya pouted. "_ But, Clar- _"_

_"_ I know you don't like it. _" the blonde whispered, a small smile on her lips. "_ But that's how it's gonna be, and you just have to deal with it. Please, for me. Ok? Think about it like, some time to decide what you think of _her_. I want to know your opinion. _"_

_The general scowled at the mention of Abby, to whom she made to sure to throw a glare before answering to her daughter. "_ But I don't need time. I already know what I think of her. She's annoying, bossy, and I don't like her. _"_

_Clarke chuckled shaking her head, her braided hair falling over her shoulder only for her to brush them back behind. "You're not coming, nomon." she said, gently, with a sweet smile. "You have to heal. Rest, for now."_

_"Fine." Anya murmured. Her scowl melted away when Clarke left a kiss on her cheek, saying goodbye._

_The blonde awkwardly smiled at Abby, who waved back just as shyly, neither of them knowing how to behave with the other. The pain was evident in both women's eyes, but neither of them knew how to approach it, resulting in awkward tension. Lexa waved at Anya as well, taking Clarke's hand in hers and exiting the tent, followed by Jake. The two mothers remained alone with each other, the air thick with awkwardness and annoying silence._

_"Can I leave now?"_

_"No."_

_"Fuck."_

 

    _Present - TonDC_

   Murphy was quietly helping Nyko ordering the medical supplies in the shelves, thinking about how in the fuck did he get there. One day he was being the worse asshole of the Dropship, and the next he was helping a grounder putting away his stuff. And he wasn't even complaining!

   What the hell? Since when did he play the good guy?

   With a huff, he forced himself to hide a small smile. The best thing about the grounders, was that they didn't know anything about him, and so they didn't judge him. Not one of them had said: 'Shut up, Murphy'. It may seem like a not very important thing, but with 'his' people that was the most common phrase when he was involved. Here in the village, instead, he was occasionally exchanging a few words with Nyko, when the latter told him when to put the supplies or asked him to pass him something.

   It was pleasant.

   Then, obviously, Costia had to destroy the peaceful atmosphere by running in the tent and jumping in Nyko's arms, laughing like an ecstatic child. When she let the man go, the girl immediately turned towards Murphy and hugged him as well, not caring about his displeased groans.

   "Clarke is alive!" she announced, releasing him and bringing a hand to her own forehead, as if checking for a fever. "Both her and Anya. They're alive! I don't know how that's possible, but they escaped the mountain with Wells!"

   The boy saw Nyko take a deep breath of relief, then smile widely with his clear blue eyes shining. "That's a great news! Where are they now?"

   Costia seemed to calm down a bit, letting her hand drop to her side. "Anya is still in the Skaikru camp, I heard she was injured but their healer - Clarke's biological mother - helped her. The messenger said she was fine last he heard of her. And Clarke is with Lexa, their on some mission on the hills near the mountain. I don't know the details."

   Nyko nodded, his expression darkening slightly. "Anything... about Lincoln?"

   Murphy made himself busy, trying to give them some privacy, though he couldn't help but hear the girl's next words.

   "They didn't see him... I'm so sorry, Nyko."

   The man gulped, looking down. "I... thanks."

   Murphy tried his best not to let it show, but he was sorry for him, too. He had no idea who Lincoln was for him, but if he got that expression on his face, he must have been important.

   Costia hugged him again, then excused herself to go talk to Charlotte and tell her something that she might want to know. Murphy's breath hitched when he heard her words.

   Thelonius Jaha was dead.

 

   He didn't want to admit it, but Murphy did observe from afar while Costia told the news to the little Charlotte. The kid looked somewhere between overjoyed, lost, and crushed. Luckily, her friend was there for her, her father as well. She wasn't alone in this, and Murphy also suspected - from what he had witnessed at the Dropship during the last weeks - that very soon Charlotte was going to visit Wells at Camp Jaha. The two were weirdly attached to one another, in his opinion.

   He got shaken out of his reverie when Nyko called out for him, asking him to go get something in the shelves. He complied, and when he got back in the medical tent he saw a girl not older than ten, that immediately caught his attention. She was laying on one of the beds, bruises all over her body, a cut on her eyebrow, a bleeding nose... overall, she looked like shit. Walking closer to give Nyko what he had asked, he noticed the weird bandage-like thing wrapped around the lower part of her face. He didn't ask about that.

   In that exact moment, Costia got back in the tent, ready to help.

   "What happened to her?" Murphy asked, looking at the battered body on the bed.

   "Somebody probably saw her face." the girl answered, carefully unwrapping the bandage to assess the damage. "Lots of people don't accept _frikdreinas_."

   The boy just stared at the girl's face for a few more seconds. It wasn't... It didn't really look normal. The skin appeared as if it had been burned, but it wasn't scarred in any place, and a side of her mouth wasn't shaped exactly the right way. He realized it was most likely caused by radiations, and while he didn't know what the grounders thought about it, he was fairly sure it wasn't contagious. He stood on a side of the bed, passing stuff to the two healers while frowning himself.

   " _Frikdreinas_?" he asked after a while, looking at the two cleaning the girl's wounds. Nyko nodded. "What does it mean?"

   The man sighed, gently taking off the scarf the girl was wearing on her head to check for injuries. "Those like her. Mutants. People who were born with that." he gestured towards her sleeping - passed out - face, still uncovered.

   "Our people used to banish them to clear the bloodline." Costia added, throwing him a look he didn't understand.

   Murphy passed them a wet cloth to wash away the grime on the girl's forehead when they asked, and then went back to his spot near the bed. "Used to? Not anymore?"

   Both healers shook their head.

   "Clarke convinced the ambassadors that banishing them was too harsh. Frikdreinas are still discriminated by most, but at least they're allowed to live in the coalition's territories." Costia explained to him, her eyes sad, slightly shaking her head. "This one was probably attacked by someone who saw her and... thought they would get rid of her."

   Murphy just nodded, rooted on the spot. He observed as the two healers cleaned all the wounds and applied bandages and creams where needed, closed injuries... He kept wondering if the girl was more or less lucky than him. While she was lucky enough to not being 'officially' an enemy for her people while he was a criminal, she didn't have the luck to only have the enemies she made for herself. Her whole people casted her out for something that was out of her control. She hadn't chose to be born with a deformation due to radiations. She couldn't do anything about it. At least Murphy had been an asshole to many and had chosen to do the things that made him a criminal.

   The sound of fingers snapping under his nose shook him out of his reverie, and he met the big, gentle eyes of Costia. Nyko was already tending to another patient. The girl smiled gently at him, and nodded towards the girl, still passed out on the bed.

   "She shouldn't be left alone for a while." the messy haired girl said. "At least until we know she doesn't have problems with her head. Would you mind staying here and watch her?"

   "Oh, hum..." he glanced at the injured girl. His shoulders sagged and he nodded. "It's not like I have anything better to do, right?"

   "I was just about to say that." Costia smirked.

   "Go away."

   The girl walked away laughing at his face, and Murphy was never going to admit it to anyone, but there was the tiniest smile bending his lips when he heard that sound.

   It felt like having a friend.

 

    _On the hills_

   "That's the radio tower." Raven said, looking into her binoculars and pointing at a metallic building perched on the crest of the mountain, right in front of them. "If we manage to make it go boom, I'm 99% sure our radio will work."

   Jake took the binoculars from her hands and took a look at the tower. "And the other 1%?"

   "Means we're fucked."

   The two shared a look. It better not happen.

   "Guys!?"

   Lexa and Clarke's hands fled to their weapons. Clarke's long sword was attached to Rufus' saddle, and she was already going to take it and strap it on her back when the voice made her jump. Turned out it was just Finn, a few feet away, looking around as if searching for something.

   "Where are Octavia and Bellamy?" he asked then, turning towards the others.

   Jake looked around for only a few seconds, before cursing under his breath. "I can't believe it! We've been here for five minutes!"

   "I think I found a trace." the shaggy haired boy stated after a moment. "I can go look for them?"

   "Alright." the older man said with a sigh. "Be careful."

   "I'll come with you." Wells offered immediately, checking that he had the gun in its holster. Then he turned towards Lexa and Clarke, that just nodded to him. "We won't be long."

   The two women watched the boys disappear in the vegetation. Lexa smiled to herself when she felt a warm hand taking hers, gently, intertwining their fingers. A moment later, Clarke's body was pressed to her side, her chin resting on her shoulder. The brunette turned her head a little to the left to send her a smirk.

   "Should I send a guard with them?" she asked in a whisper.

   Clarke smiled against her shoulder, slightly shaking her head. "They'll manage." then she left a kiss on her cheek, mindful of the warpaint, and tugged at her hand to drag her towards the others.

   Raven and Jake were still going on about their plan to destroy the radio tower, and much to the grounders' displeasure, most of it was nonsense. Clarke and Lexa exchanged several confused looks, not understanding what the Skaikru were saying. They just hoped that they could solve the problem before the mountain men decided to attack them. They were too near the mountain to consider themselves safe.

   "That's it then." Raven exclaimed with a grin after several long minutes. "We can make it go boom. I just need-"

   She was cut off by a horn resounding in the air. The group of grounders froze, wide-eyed, chills running down their spines. Everyone stood still and quiet, trying to listen.

   The horn sounded again.

   "The fog!" Lexa shouted. "Everyone get back on the horses! We need to leave!"

   The grounders jumped back on their horses in a flash, ready to run back to the camp, where they would have been safe from the yellow fog. Clarke was already holding Rufus' reins in her hands when she heard Raven calling out to her and Lexa, her eyes wide, still rooted on the spot next to Jake, that looked confused and agitated even if he didn't move from there.

   "Wait!" the girl yelled, not moving from where she was standing. "We have to deal with the tower first! We can't leave!"

   "Raven!" Clarke snapped at the girl, striding towards her, feeling Lexa's eyes on herself. "We can't stay here, there's not enough time!"

   The brunette turned to look at the sky behind her, gulping when she saw the enormous yellow mist that was slowly creeping up towards them. She met Clarke and Lexa's eyes with a new determination in her brown irises.

   "We have the tents."

 

   "This is extremely dangerous, I hope you know it."

   Raven just rolled her eyes, not even raising her head to meet the blonde's eyes. She kept pressing buttons and turning knobs on her little device, apparently looking for something. Both grounders exchanged a wary look when all that came out of that thing was a weird buzzing noise after the other.

   "I do know it." the brunette said after a few more seconds. "But it's working, right?"

   "For now."

   With a sigh, Lexa leaned back, resting her weight on her arms and glancing towards the thinnest part of the tent. She could see the fog fluctuating outside like a yellow wall, creepy and dangerous. Her hands clenched into fists at the thought of the danger they were all in, and she masked her anxiety with a scowl. Suddenly, she felt something warm caressing her knuckles, and then fingers intertwining with hers. Her lips bent into a tiny smile and she turned slightly to face her love.

   Clarke was staring at her, her clear blue eyes shining in the dim light of the small tent. The girl squeezed her hand slightly, reassuringly, and scooted a bit closer. Lexa's heart expanded with love.

   " _I can see you're worried._ " Clarke murmured in her ear, her low, raspy voice helping her calm down.

   " _We're sitting in the middle of the fog, Clarke._ " she whispered back, resisting the urge to bite her lip. She didn't want to show her fear to Raven and Jake. " _This tent is made of a cloth that's as thin as a shirt, it would only take a hole in it or a cut and we'd all be dead._ "

   The blonde rested her chin on her shoulder, breathing deeply through her nose. " _You're right. I don't like it either, but for now it's working. Raven's smart, I think we can trust her with this._ "

   The mechanic lifted her eyes for only a second when she heard her name, but then went back to work with her device without a word. Jake was trying to sneakily observe them, glancing their way every chance he got trying not to get caught. He wasn't doing a very good job, considering that both women were aware of his quiet staring.

   " _I think he's trying to figure me out._ " Lexa murmured, keeping her tone even. " _Since we're together._ "

   Clarke just smiled, her breath hitting Lexa's tiny ear, tickling her. " _Yeah... I suppose he's trying to understand if I'm in good hands._ "

   The brunette resisted the urge to scoff, throwing a glance at the man, who immediately looked away. " _Are you?_ " she asked with a grin.

   The blue-eyed girl just hummed, looking at her lips. Her fingers squeezed her lover's ones and she smirked. " _I definitely am._ " she murmured in a low, purring voice.

   Lexa's grin became a smug smile.

 

_In the forest_

   "Hey!"

   Octavia and Bellamy stopped in their tracks, already letting out two identical annoyed sighs. Slowly, they turned to see who was calling for them, and were surprised when they realized it wasn't an adult from the Ark, but Finn and Wells.

   "What the hell do you want?" Bellamy asked in a growl, already scowling at them.

   Finn just shrugged, panting slightly. "We realised you weren't there, and came to find you. It's too dangerous out here."

   Octavia scoffed with a grimace, planting her hands on her hips. "Well, congratulations, you found us." she said, her voice dripping sarcasm. "But we're not going back so you can leave."

   The two siblings exchanged a look and turned on their heels, walking away, not even sparing them a glance. Finn groaned and threw his head back, looking up at the sky, annoyed.

   "Crap. The fuck are they even doing...?" he muttered under his breath, stepping forward to start following them.

   "Wait." Wells touched his elbow, gently stopping him. He shook his head. "No, you go back and tell the others we're ok. I'll follow them and make sure they stay out of trouble."

   Finn shrugged, nodding slightly. "Fine by me. Be careful ok? The grounders said we're too near the mountain to ever be really safe."

   The other boy nodded with a small smile, checking his gun once again. "You too. See you later Finn."

   "Yeah, yeah. Go, you're loosing them." the shaggy haired boy pointed towards the trees with his finger, chuckling.

   Wells turned to look at the Blake's, and kicked a twig when he saw them disappear in the vegetation. "Ah, fuck me!"

   He started running, ignoring Finn's laugh behind him. Luckily for him, he caught up with them almost immediately, thanks to the fact that Bellamy was still limping around and couldn't really run, earning another pair of glares the moment they saw him.

   "We said we're not going back, chancellor." the taller boy grumbled.

   "I know." he answered with a smile, falling into pace with them. "That's why I'm coming with you."

   "Alright." Bellamy said, surprised. "I'm fine with that." he exchanged another look with his sister, and when the girl shrugged, he just nodded to himself, limping forward.

   After about half an hour, the three of them reached a small clearing. Wells had soon realised that walking in the woods was utter hell for Bellamy, his still fragile leg never really stopping to hurt him. He could see him wince every time he had to step over a particularly big root or when the ground was slippery and he had to put all his weight on both legs. If he was being honest, Wells just wanted to help him, but he knew that the older boy would have refused, and he didn't know how to approach the fact that he _needed_ it.

   Taking a break - mostly for Bellamy's sake, even if he didn't know. Wells pretended to be tired to make sure he rested his leg a bit - and deciding whether to split up to cover more ground and find another access to the mountain, the two boys didn't notice Octavia wandering off among the trees. That was, until a horn sounded in the air, causing them to freeze.

   Then the horn sounded again.

   "It's the acid fog! Bellamy we don't have a tent!" Wells shouted suddenly, fearful chills running down his spine.

   "O!" Bellamy yelled, limping as fast as he could. "O! WE NEED TO RUN, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!? O!"

   A small figure jumped out form behind the trees, waving at them wildly. "THIS WAY! QUICK, I NEED HELP!"

   The curly haired boy immediately started running - or rather, trying to - towards his sister, limping furiously through the forest. Wells gathered his stuff and immediately caught up with him, grabbing his arm and swinging it over his own shoulder, his own arm going around the other boy's waist to help him. Bellamy shot him a look, before nodding gratefully and closing his fist around the younger boy's jacket.

   Running in the woods with Bellamy weighing him down like that was anything but ideal, especially when the yellow wall of acid fog was stalking them. They kept tripping on roots and slipping in mud and yet, somehow, they managed to reach Octavia without falling on their faces.

   "Come on, move!" the girl snapped at them, pointing towards a wall almost completely covered in reptant plants, so much it was almost invisible. "I found a door but we need to open it now!"

   The boys glanced behind their backs, seeing the fog creeping towards them among the trees. Terror filled their veins and they quickly reached for the door.

   "Pull!" Bellamy shouted, grabbing the handle and planting his good foot on the ground. The other two got into position next to him. "Pull now!"

   Groaning with the effort, the three of them somehow managed to get the old door to open. It squeaked and lamented on its pivots, moving ever so slowly, but it opened, even if barely enough to allow the boys to pass. Octavia immediately jumped in, checking for threats, while Wells first shoved Bellamy inside and then rushed to enter the building and close the door behind himself, before the acid fog could reach them. The door swang closed with a loud and resonating 'clung', and the three teenagers found themselves in the dark.

   It was scarily quiet, and there was that pungent smell of a place that had been left closed for too long. The air was heavy, almost hard to breathe, and from time to time they could hear small noises in the distance.

   "Fuck." Octavia whispered on his left, and Wells heard her shuffling on her feet, trying to find her brother. "Fuck Bell, where are you? I can't see anything."

   "I'm here."

   Feeling chills running down his spine, Wells kneeled down and laid his backpack on the ground, blindly opening it and shoving his hands inside, trying to find the flashlight. "Wait a minute." he whispered to the others, and finally felt his hand bump against the plastic handle.

   Feeling the handle with his fingers, trying to find the switch in the dark, he let out a triumphant hum when light illuminated his friends' faces, who took a relieved breath. Wells passed the flashlight to Bellamy and got up, throwing the backpack on his shoulder.

   "What the fuck?" Bellamy muttered suddenly, while Octavia unsheated her sword.

   Alarmed, Wells looked up, and a gasp escaped his lips. They were in what seemed to have been an underground garage. There were cars of various types, from rovers to sports cars, rows upon rows of vehicles.

   "Guys..." the black-haired girl muttered, pointing at the cars in front of them. "this is an underground garage... and Mount Weather is a bunker, so it's underground as well. Maybe, before the bombs, the people in there used these cars to move around?"

   Bellamy looked around, shuffling on his feet and grimacing when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. "If these cars were theirs, there should be some sort of gallery that goes from the bunker to this place. A connection."

   The siblings glanced at Wells, that was still considering their opinions. They couldn't go back outside for now, with the acid fog still permeating the air. At the same time, venturing in an old parking lot with only a flashlight to illuminate their steps, and only two guns and a sword as their defense, wasn't really what he would have called a good plan. Not that they really had a choice.

   "Worth a try. Let's go."

 

_Camp Jaha_

   "Absolutely not." Anya growled, throwing daggers at Abby with her eyes. "I'm not going to sit in that thing like a boneless idiot."

   The doctor let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the base of her nose with two fingers and closing her eyes. Next to her was a wheelchair, Sinclair had managed to build it with the help of a couple grounders that had fetched him some parts. Now, Abby was trying to convince the woman to just use it to move around the camp, since she wasn't allowed to walk for a few more days. As expected, the dark-blonde woman wasn't thrilled.

   "Well, if you wish to just lay there for days, then be my guest." Abby snapped. "But know that you can't walk to get to the bathroom, either. I'd have to take the matter in my own hands." when she was met with a blank stare, she just raised a small, flexible tube with one hand, arching an eyebrow. She wiggled it in the air.

   The general's mouth full open and the woman gaped in horror. "You wouldn't _dare_!" she exclaimed, her hands gripping the edges of the bed so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

   "Want to try me?"

   "Just wait until I can walk again, and-"

   Anya's threat got interrupted by Gustus' voice, calling from just out of the tent. Clarke and Lexa had insisted that he and Aghon stayed to keep an eye on the general, both girls extremely worried about her wellbeing. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

   "Anya, something's going on." the man said. "A few warriors just arrived, Hera and Rufus are with them, but... no sign of Heda or Clarke."

   "Indra's talking to them... she seems worried." Aghon added, fidgeting outside the tent.

   Two identical gasps filled the air in the infirmary, both women feeling their insides shake in fear. After less than a second, Anya was squirming and trying to get off the bed while Abby tried to force her brain to function. Her doctor instincts kicked in when she saw the pained expression on her patient's face, and heard her groan while clutching her stomach.

   "Hey, hey stop! You're going to hurt yourself!" she reached out to push her back onto the furs.

   The general's hands shot up in the air, grabbing her wrists. Anya's wide, almond eyes met Abby's brown ones, and she snapped: "Then help me get on the fucking chair! Come on!"

   A minute later, Anya was wheeling the chair through the camp - she had categorically refused to have someone pushing it for her -, straight towards Indra and the warriors, that were still talking animatedly in front of the horses. The woman was glaring at everyone who so much as glanced in her direction, her lips tight. Abby was trailing behind her with Gustus and Aghon, ignoring the angry looks the general was throwing at her every five seconds, clearly mad that she had had to use the wheelchair.

   "Anya." Indra greeted her when they reached them, nodding at the others. "We have news..."

   "What's going on? Indra," the woman gripped the armrests of the chair. "where are they?"

   The other general stepped closer, staring at her with her dark brown eyes. "They are safe. The fog arrived, but they took shelter in the tents the Skaikru had with them. These warriors were ordered to come back with all the horses and report."

   Everyone took a deep breath of relief, the weight of fear erased from their shoulders. Wincing slightly, Anya wheeled herself towards the horses, that greeted her with soft rumbles, pushing their noses against her hands. The others decided to leave a moment alone, knowing that she was worried. Only one of them remained.

   "Which one..." Abby's voice shook and she cleared her throat. "Which one is Clarke's?"

   Anya took a few seconds to gather herself, before gently patting the bigger of Rufus' heads, muttering: "This one."

   The woman slowly approached him, looking at him with wide eyes, a fearful expression on her face. The horse was... big, completely black, covered in furs and... "Does he... does he have two heads? Is that normal?"

   The general shrugged, frowning. "Some animals are just born like this. People too, sometimes."

   The doctor tried to get nearer to the horse, but he rumbled and stepped back, shying away from the touch. Anya immediately noticed and decided to just put her own emotions aside, for now, and help the woman get to know Clarke's horse. For some reason, she felt like it was important.

   "He gets nervous with new people if Clarke is not there." the general explained, reaching out to grab the reins that where hanging from his harness. She gently tugged him towards herself and he went to push his two noses against her forehead. "You have to be gentle and approach him very slowly, so he can keep an eye on you."

   Abby nodded nervously, briefly glancing at Hera that had her muzzle on the ground, trying to find some grass to nibble. Looking back at the black horse, she could clearly see that he was nervously staring at her, making sure to keep a contact with Anya.

   "Ok... slow and gentle." she repeated to herself, stepping closer to the two.

   Anya nodded, rubbing his neck to keep him calm, when he wiggled his ears and started fidgeting, pounding lightly on the ground with his hooves. "Ok... You know what, I have an idea."

   With her free hand she reached for one of the bags that Clarke always kept attached to the saddle. She knew that her daughter wanted to always have something to give Rufus, as a treat, with her whenever they went out, so obviously today wouldn't have been an exception. In fact, she hummed, whipping out - with some difficulty - a green apple, that she offered to the other woman.

   "He likes these."

   Abby took the apple with a nod, frowning slightly. "Ok... hum, to which... _head_ should I offer it?" she asked.

   Anya snorted, checking that Hera was still near and rubbing Rufus' neck. "To the biggest one." she said. Then added to herself in a murmur: "Obviously."

   The doctor nodded again to herself, took a deep breath, and slowly stepped closer to the horse. He saw her and fidgeted, looking like he was going to step back again, but then he noticed the apple in the woman's hands, and stopped. When the apple was gently offered to him, the horse took a moment to decide whether or not he should take it. Then, slowly and clearly hesitant, he moved towards her, and carefully took the fruit.

   Anya saw Abby smile, and for some reason she felt both better and worse at the same time. It was easy, when the Skaikru were still in space, to ignore the fact that for her to gain a daughter, someone had had to lose her. It was easy not to care, when she didn't know what those people looked like, what their voices were like. It was easy, when Clarke was here and happy, to ignore the fact that the people who had cared for her for eight years were suffering from the loss of her.

   It was so easy.

   And now... it wasn't so easy anymore.

   She was shaken out of her thoughts by Rufus, that was huffing in disappointment upon seeing that Abby didn't have any more treats for him. The woman looked unsure, her hand hanging in the air.

   "Now you can try to touch him." Anya said. "Be gentle, and go slow."

   Abby nodded, biting her lip, and slowly raised her hand to touch his black muzzle. Rufus froze, and for a moment they both thought that he was going to shy away again, but then he blinked and huffed, and pressed his nose against the woman's hand. She giggled, honest to God, she giggled. And he seemed to appreciate that. Abby looked up at him in wonder, not quite believing that, first: she was touching a horse, a thing she had never thought she'd do in her life, and second: it was Clarke's horse. And he had two heads. It was both unbelievable and amazing.

   Anya was looking at the scene unfolding in front of her with a mix of contentment and sadness. With a sigh, she wheeled herself towards Hera to gently tug at her reins, and she immediately started following her. When she reached Abby and Rufus again, the woman jumped like a thought had suddenly hit her.

   "What... what did Gustus say Clarke called him?" she asked, once again wide eyed and with a shaky voice.

   The general furrowed her brows, finding the sudden question rather weird, but then again the Skaikru in general were weird, so.

   "Rufus. Why?"

   "She... she remembered?"

 

_On the hills_

   "No, no ok you have to press it-"

   "What? No way, that'd just fuck it up-"

   "Of course it _wouldn't_ , believe me I-"

   "No, listen, I built it, and I know that pressing _that_ would fuck it up and we'd lose the signal, ok-"

   Clarke sighed and let her head drop on Lexa's shoulder, closing her eyes. " _Why are they doing it again?_ "

   The brunette bumped her head with her nose, smiling softly. " _I think they're just getting restless._ "

   The girl groaned against her, shifting just enough to rest her chin where her head had been. Blue eyes met green ones and she reciprocated the smile. " _Can't they be restless in silence?_ "

   Lexa scoffed, briefly glancing at the two. " _As if we could ever be that lucky._ "

   " _Damn._ "

   They stayed like that, just enjoying each other's presence. The past weeks had been hard on them, and with the war against the Maunon looming over them, they knew the following weeks weren't going to be much better. So for now, they were going to make the most of the time they had. Little moments like this one were precious. Clarke smiled fondly at the thought of their peaceful time in their tent, before they had to get ready.

 

_Yesterday evening_

_Clarke had slowly started to undress with a whimper. She didn't like to admit it, but everything hurt and the slightest movement had her muscles and joints protesting. Admittedly, jumping off a dam straight in the ice cold water and then running for a whole day through the woods, right after having been hung upside down and blood-drained had been... exhausting. More than that, she was completely destroyed. Every muscle ached, all the little cuts on her skin would sting every time the air so much as grazed them, the wound on her arm - where she had bit off the chip of the maunon - was bandaged and uncomfortable, and she just wanted to sleep. Nevermind if she had slept well into the afternoon today, she wanted to do it again._

_Her arms ached while she slowly and sloppily tried to lift her shirt over her head. When her shoulders refused to cooperate, she just sighed and went to take off her pants. Undoing the buttons was another story, though. She huffed, annoyed, and threw her head back, giving up._

_"Lexa." she called._

_Several thuds on the floor behind her told her the woman had heard her. She turned, glancing at the commander. She had shrug off the heavy coat and was now in just leather pants and a tank top. She had just finished unbraiding her hair, that now flowed over her shoulder in beautiful chestnut waves. Gods, she was so beautiful... so beautiful that Clarke forgot what she was going to ask._

_"Clarke?" the brunette voice shook her out of her thoughts, and Lexa smirked, her fingers gently combing through her long, dark hair. "You called? Do you need anything?"_

_"Mm? Oh!" the blonde shook her head to clear her mind. "Yeah, I can't take my clothes off."_

_Lexa blinked uncertainly, staring at her. "Ok...?"_

_Clarke furrowed her brows, then huffed. "Not like that... like I really can't, I need help."_

_Her girlfriend blinked again, then her eyes widened and she let out a: "Oh!" of realization followed by a laugh._

_"Stop laughing, this is serious!" Clarke scolded her, but she couldn't help the smile that bended her lips. "Come on, help me."_

_Still chuckling, Lexa stepped closer and gently hooked her fingers in her waistband, tugging her a little closer. Clarke didn't hesitate and kissed that grin off her face. The brunette let out a small hum, clearly pleased, and the blue eyed girl playfully shoved her, whimpering a second later, when her aching muscles protested. The brunette huffed a low laugh, shaking her head, then left a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth and proceeded to quickly undo her pants. Once the buttons were open, she nudged Clarke to make her sit on the bed. She did so with a huff and another squeal of pain, causing Lexa to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle a laugh._

_"It hadn't been this bad since you first started training with Titus." the brunette said, fighting back a smile. "Remember?"_

_Clarke started giggling, letting herself fall back on the bed, holding herself up on her elbows. "Yes, and it was_ terrible _. That man is evil." she sighed while her girlfriend pulled her pants off and set them on a chair. "His tattooed head is so interesting, though..."_

_Lexa just snorted, crawling up to her on the bed. "You realize you have the same tattoo, right?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Right here."_

_Clarke felt a cold finger caress her right shoulder, where the tattoo symbolizing her status as Fleimkepa adorned her skin. She rolled her eyes. "I know, but it doesn't look as cool as the one on his head." she pouted, her eyes drooping._

_"They look the same! Fine, you know what?" The commander swiftly removed the blonde's shirt, throwing it on the chair, above her pants. She stared in her blue eyes for a few seconds, then shook her head and left a small peck on her lips. "Let's just go to sleep." she murmured, noticing her tiredness._

_Clarke could only nod, already shifting to get under the furs. She inhaled the fresh smell that clinged on her pillow, and smiled sleepily. "Fine. But I want cuddles."_

The morning after...

_"Lexa." Clarke whispered._

_"Hmm?"_

_"I'm thirsty."_

_Lexa lifted her head, that was resting on the blonde's chest, to throw her a mischievous smirk, her eyebrow already arching up._

_"Not like that, asshole."_

_That phrase wiped the smirk away from those plump lips, but even so, the sight of Lexa was adorable. Her chestnut hair was everywhere, her eyes were threatening to fall close again, and on her cheek was still perfectly visible the pattern of Clarke's thank top, that had been pressed against her face all night, since she had used the girl's chest as a pillow._

_To Clarke, she was the single most beautiful creature in the universe._

_And she wasn't getting up. On the contrary, the woman just let her head fall back down on her breasts, her arm tightening its hold around her waist._

_"Lexa."_

_"Hmm."_

_She chuckled, gently tangling her fingers in her her brown locks. "Come on, I'm thirsty." the woman just hummed. She pulled her hair. "Seriously."_

_Lexa let out a long sigh, slowly lifting her head again to look into Clarke's expectant eyes. "Why are you telling me? Just, go drink something and let me sleep."_

_The blonde started giggling, resuming the calming movement of her fingers stroking her gorgeous hair. "You have to move your beautiful leg, Lex, I can't get up." she said, caressing her knee with her thumb._

_Lexa frowned, sneaking a glance down her own body as if to check the position of her limbs. Indeed, her left leg was draped over Clarke's, effectively keeping her in place. The still sleepy girl took a few moments to process the fact, but when she did she just blinked, her frown turning into a pout._

_"Oh."_

_"Hmm."_

_"Fine."_

_The brunette sloppily rolled on her back, allowing the other girl to slowly get up. The blonde's body was still sore, but the peaceful night of sleep had done wonders to her, and she could at least move without whimpering. Sure, her tired limbs would still vigorously protest at almost every movement, but it was way more bearable than the day before. Sighing contentedly, Clarke threw a glance at Lexa's sleeping form. The sight brought a smile to her face. The woman was on her back, her limbs stretched in awkward ways and her hair all over her face, moving slightly with every breath._

_She was adorable, Clarke thought._

_After drinking several gulps of water - she really needed it, for her throat had felt dry and sore when she woke up - the girl made her way back to bed. Still smiling, she quickly got under the furs, and then carefully crawled on top of the brunette. She woke her up with a kiss on the lips._

_"Hmm... better." Lexa didn't bother to open her eyes, but Clarke could feel her smile against her own lips._

_"Time to get up, commander."_

_"Absolutely not."_

_"We have to get ready."_

_"And we will... just... later."_

_Clarke sighed, feeling her resolve crumbling. "I guess we could stay here a few minutes more..."_

_A few minutes turned into half an hour, and somehow - Clarke really didn't know how it happened - they found themselves sacrificing sleep in favor of light kisses and lazy cuddles. When the time came to really get up and ready, they both were too out of it to notice, and Aghon had to start bugging them from outside their tent to convince them to give it a move. When he didn't get an nswer, the man threatened to send Indra in to wake them up. He smirked, when he heard their tired voices telling him that they were awake._

_They were dressed and ready to face the day, hand in hand with their fingers intertwined and small smiles on their faces, when a sudden thought hit Clarke like a ton of bricks._

_"Lex. Can you promise me a thing?" she asked, her blue eyes jumping to the green ones of her lover._

_"What is it, Little Star?" Lexa murmured, staring back with love._

_The blonde took a long, shaky breath to try and keep her composure. "Promise me that you'll never tell me who shot my nomon." she said, trying not to grit her teeth too hard. "Because if I knew who it was I'd kill them and then we'd be at war again. And I don't want that. So please, promise me, Lex."_

_A few seconds passed, in complete silence. Then Clarke felt the hand in hers gently give it a squeeze, and the littlest nod being sent her way._

_"I promise."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you liked it in the comments :)
> 
> Next chapter will be part two of this, and Lincoln will be found.


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